Going in to Thursday night’s scrimmage against McKenzie, Goshen head coach Bart Snyder was cautiously optimistic about his team.

Despite a 21-14 loss to the Tigers, Snyder feels a little bit better about the long season that lies ahead.

“We saw some really good things tonight,” Snyder said Thursday. “We played well for a large part of the night, but had a few ‘young’ mistakes that hurt us. Our young kids showed heart tonight. Overall, I am pleased with what we have going forward.”

Goshen took the opening drive of the game straight down the field for a touchdown. Terraino Griffin seemed to score on a second-down play, however the officials nullified the score following an inadvertent whistle.

Sophomore Zack Alford scored on fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line to cap the opening drive.

Snyder said the Eagles fell victim to a couple big pass plays due to “young mistakes” in the defensive backfield.

But Snyder and his staff did see a big bright spot Thursday: the offensive line.

Entering the scrimmage, Goshen had only one starting offensive lineman with considerable playing time.

Snyder’s big men played well against a much larger McKenzie defensive front.

“They gained a lot of confidence tonight,” Snyder said. “McKenzie has some really big guys, and we were able to open some holes and make space for our backs. That is a good thing to see.”

Goshen plays host to Pike County next Friday in the regular season opener. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.