The Goshen Eagles return home to take on Houston Academy on Friday night.

After falling to the top ranked Elba Tigers last Friday night, the Eagles have had a good week of practice in advance of their fifth game of the season.

“It has been much better than last week,” said Eagles head coach Bart Snyder.
“We have been more focused and a little more intense this week.”

Last week the Eagles held close to Elba in the first half, but things got away from them in the second half. Snyder believes remaining focused for four quarters is one of the main things his team has been working on.

“We feel like we are young in some key areas,” Snyder said. “We are focusing on getting them to understand that this is their job. This game of football is like the game of life. You are given a job and you have to do that job. If you don’t do it then we fall short.”

The Eagles hope they will learn from their mistakes last week and finish the season on a high note.

“We hope so,” Snyder said. “We will know more when we get on the field on Friday night. What you look like at practice is not always what you look like during the game.”

This week the Eagles welcome in a Raider team that is 1-4 on the season. Through their first five games the Raiders have allowed 42 points per game while scoring just 11.

“They may be struggling, but they have been playing some really good ball teams,” Snyder said. “When you play teams like that you want to look past them. You can’t look past them. They are really well coached, coach Jim Addison and his staff do a really good job.”

Last season the Eagles fell to the Raiders 26-0 so there will be no looking ahead for the Eagles come Friday night.

“Those guys are athletic and also very disciplined,” Snyder said. “They don’t make mistakes. They have played very good ball teams the last two weeks and looking past them would be a mistake on our part.”

The Eagles look to improve to 4-1 when they kick things off against the Raiders at 7 p.m. at Goshen Field.