Special to the MESSENGER

BILLINGSLEY – It was all Eagles.

Junior tailback Dee Brundidge rolled up more than 200 yards on five carries as the Goshen Eagles mowed down the Billingsley Bears, 54-0, in the 2000 season opener here Friday night.

After a BHS punt early in the first quarter, Brundidge found the end zone from 45 yards out on the Eagles’ first play from scrimmage. After a PAT, the Eagles led 7-0 with 10:06 remaining in the first quarter.

Brundidge’s second touch resulted in an Eagle touchdown, this time from the Goshen 42-yard line. Brundidge’s score – which gave the Eagles a 14-0 lead after a PAT – came with 9:42 remaining in the first half.

After the Bears ran three plays and punted, Goshen kick returner Jamar Tucker broke a 57-yard punt return to put the Eagles up 21-0 after a Holland PAT.

BHS still couldn’t get it going later in the second quarter as they were forced to punt after another three plays.

On the Eagles second play of the drive-you guessed it – Brundidge found the end zone for the third time; this time from 84 yards out. Holland’s point-after-kick gave the Eagles a commanding 28-0 lead with 5:06 left in the first half.

Billingsley put together its longest drive of the night, moving the ball into the Eagles’ red zone behind hard running from junior halfback Ronald Huffman and precision passing from freshman quarterback Chris Brown.

On the twelfth play of the drive, Brown’s pass was picked off by Jonathan Folmar at the Goshen 10-yard line as time expired in the first half.

Billingsley stopped Goshen’s first drive of the second half as sophomore defensive back/quarterback Danny Spencer picked off an errant pass at the Bears’ 10-yard-line with 10:09 remaining in the third quarter.

The Bears, however, handed the ball back to the Eagles on fumble at the three.

Quez Burden handled the duties from there with a blast up the middle. Holland’s PAT again found its mark and the Eagles led 35-0 with 9:09 remaining in the third quarter.

The Bears took the ball on the ensuing kickoff to the Goshen 42 before the drive stalled and a fake punt backfired.

On the Eagles’ first play, quarterback Averick Rogers dumped a pass to Jamar Tucker, who streaked 58 yards for the score. Holland’s first wide extra point try left the Eagles up 41-0.

With the Bears backed up against its own endzone, an Eagle defender blocked a punt and recovered the loose ball at the BHS two.

Sophomore Clarence Bean covered the two yards with 2:20 remaining in the third to put the Eagles out front 48-0.

The Eagles final score of the night came when Rogers again hooked up with Tucker. This time the duo covered 24 yards with 8:49 remaining in the game.

Goshen coach Joe Thornton was pleased with his team’s effort.

"We played a very physical game," he said. "We take pride in playing a physical ball game.

"We’ve got some talent," he continued, noting the score. "We’ve got some weapons, but not a lot of depth."