Goshen used a three-headed monster in the backfield and an extremely stingy defense to dominate Ariton 35-13 Friday night.

The three-headed attack of Damion Passmore, Zack Alford and DaQuan Foster accounted for 232 yards on the ground. Passmore found the endzone three times in the second half- on romps of 61, 15 and seven yards.

The never-yielding ground attack helped Goshen blow open the ball game and ease to a season-opening win.

“There is really five or six guys we have confidence in that can run the football,” said Goshen head coach Bart Snyder. “Each one brings something a little bit different to our offense. It’s our job as coaches to get them even better. That’s what we have to do.”

The Eagle defense was just as impressive as its highflying offense. Goshen ended the night with eight quarterback sacks and held the Purple Cats to just 53 yards of offense.

Of Ariton’s two scoring drives, one came on a short field after a botched snap on a punt and the other came against the Goshen reserves late in the fourth quarter, long after game was decided.

The defense attacked early and often, forcing Ariton in to 3rd-and-long situations over and over.

When the situations came, Goshen turned the defense loose to force a quick decision by the Ariton offense.

The night went all according to plan said Eagle defensive lineman Dakarai Siler.

“We had a very simple plan tonight: be physical every play,” Siler said. “We wanted to get to them and put them down.”

In addition to Passmore’s three scoring runs, Goshen picked up a pair of touchdown rumbles from Corey Peterson and Bryan Galloway.

Snyder, who admitted his Eagles still have a lot to fix in order to get where they want to be, liked what he saw and has eyes and thoughts planted firmly on what lies ahead.

“I’m really proud of our kids tonight and really happy all these great Goshen people were able to see it,” Snyder said. “Ariton is a very good ball team. We have to build off tonight, get better and get focused on Calhoun next week.”