Published: September 04, 2008 10:05 am         

Attention turns to conference football contests

While two non-league victories were dandy, now it’s time for the Goshen High School football Redskins to focus on a seven-week Northern Lakes Conference schedule filled with obstacles.

The first hurdle is Friday night at Elkhart Memorial on California Road where the 2-0 Redskins and 1-1 Crimson Chargers square off, starting with a 7:30 kickoff.

Goshen defeated Carroll 24-21 and Elkhart Central 14-0 in “tuneup” games for the conference while Memorial trimmed Central 35-28 and lost an NLC shootout to Concord 57-32.

“It’s time to get ready for the NLC and see what we are made of,” said GHS coach David Wilson. “We played two quality opponents and they showed us a little bit of everything.

“There were a lot of positives in the Central game. We blocked and tackled good, playing a little more physical style. We were able to slow down their running game.”

Trenton St. Germain, 6-0 (265) senior Redskin guard, has a pulled groin muscle and is questionable for the Memorial game.

But, the Redskins could regain the services of 6-2 (218) senior offensive lineman Thomas Gingrich who missed the first two games due to injury.

“Our offensive line did a great job against Central,” said Wilson. “We were able to establish a lead, possess the ball and keep our defense on the sideline.”

The crisp blocking helped Redskin junior tailback Nick Lewallen carry the football a school-record 38 times, snapping the old one-game mark of 31 by Mason Ogle against Warsaw in 1996.

This was the first Redskin team to shut out the (Elkhart) Blue Blazers since Oct. 29, 1943 when Goshen won 25-0 at Foreman Field.

GHS senior players in that game 65 years ago were Stormy Pfohl, Fred Baughman, Bill Yoder, Jack Whitmer, Bob Rumsey, Beets Sheline, Bud Rogers, Jim Collins, Todd Kelly, Galen Cripe, Bob Roose, Don Shriner, Leroy Chokey, Bill Pittman and Floyd Manges.

Underclassmen included Ted Garman, Dick Kauffman, John Shannahan, Phil Cripe, Tom Garman, D. Roose, Ronnie Snoke, George Hay, Junior Long, C. Morse, Don Ulery, D. Amsler, J. Cripe and D. Martin.

Don Yoder was head coach and Lorin “Snow” Evans assistant. Charles Nipple was senior manager, assisted by J. Brown.

Pfohl, most valuable player in the Northern Indiana Conference that year, ran 65 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the game. The Redskins finished with a 7-1 record.

Back to the present, Friday foe Memorial obviously has some offensive weapons with its 67 points scored in two games.

“They have two dangerous running backs and the offensive line blocks well,” said Wilson. “They are a little more traditional in what they do and have a coach (Phil Teegarden) who has been involved in the game longer than I have been alive.

“The NLC championship won’t be decided this first week. You just have to take care of business each week and this game is just one among seven big ones coming up.”

Goshen featured a fancy passing attack against Carroll and then stuck to the ground against Central, mainly because that’s what was working.

“We are probably a hard team to scout right now, but that was not by design,” said Wilson. “While Carroll is a difficult team to run against, we thought we could be more physical with Central.

“We try to be balanced, but will go with what is working in each game. A lot of it depends on matchups with different opponents.

“I like where we are as a football team right now, but there is plenty of room for improvement in all areas and we need to become much more consistent.”

The Redskins host the NorthWood Panthers on Friday, Sept. 12.

That night, Goshen state championship teams of 1978 and 1988 will be honored.

Players, coaches, managers and cheerleaders from those years are invited to participate and are asked to contact GHS athletic secretary Jan Schrock at 533-0652 if they plan to attend.