Published: October 23, 2009 11:22 pm      

Goshen comes up short at Penn

MISHAWAKA — It’s a playoff tradition that Goshen coach Dave Wilson would like to end.

It seems like every year in the playoffs, Penn has a big play on special teams against the Redskins. Friday was no different, as a long punt return woke up the Kingsmen, who went to a big second quarter and a 28-7 victory over Goshen in the first round of the Class 5A sectional.

The two teams battled evenly through the first quarter, including a big fourth-down stop by the Redskins defense. But with 1:37 to go in the first period, Penn’s Kamden Betzer returned a punt 69 yards for a touchdown. Penn then added three more touchdowns in the second stanza, and were never threatened again.

“It seems like Penn always returns a punt on us. In ‘07, they returned one down to the 8 against us,” said Wilson. “They set up a nice wall against us. Offensively, Penn was bigger than us and they manhandled us.”

The Kingsmen scored on all three of their possessions in the second quarter, including a two-minute drill where they marched 53 yards in 45 seconds right before halftime.

“I thought our offense executed very nicely in the first half,” said Penn coach Cory Yeoman.

Goshen continued to battle, as it has all season, and held the Kingsmen scoreless in the second half. The Redskins got their lone score in the fourth quarter, when quarterback Carson Roberts connected with Troy Pickard in the corner of the endzone for a 15-yard touchdown. Miguel Sandoval tacked on the extra point.

The drive covered 80 yards in eight plays, with a key completion from Roberts to Joey Diaz that covered 38 yards, as Diaz broke several tackles and zig-zagged past Penn defenders to the 15-yard line.

On a night when Penn stifled Goshen’s rushing attack, the Redskin passing game clicked. Roberts completed 15 of 21 passes for 170 yards and no interceptions. Diaz caught three passes for 68 yards, while Pickard snared seven passes for 66 yards.

Yeoman was impressed with the effort of the Redskins.

“They lost some kids early in the year, but they kept playing hard,” he said.

“They competed with everybody, and they showed a lot of heart.” The Redskins season might have ended at Penn Friday, but the future looks bright for the program.

“The seniors stepped up and were good leaders this year,” Wilson said. “We have a lot of kids coming back, and we have a freshman class that has only lost three games in three years. Things are looking up for the future.”