Peabody outlasts Goessel, 54-52
Staff writer
With Halloween just around the corner, the Peabody Warrior football team got an early scare Friday night in the form of the Goessel Bluebirds.
The Warriors had to contend with a slew of penalties and a quick start by the Bluebirds, but a 34-18 rally in the second and third quarters were enough for Peabody to hang on, 54-52.
Jess Philpott carried 38 times for a game-high 271 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Goessel came out hot, jumping to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter with Dylan Lindeman finding Kale Funk for an 8-yard touchdown and Zach Zogelman zipping in from 18 out.
Rocco Weerts finally got the Warriors on the board nearly 2:00 into the second quarter, hitting Thomas Page for 10 yards.
Philpott’s two-point run was stopped, but Peabody was back in the game, down 14-6.
Weerts and Page would connect again just before halftime, pulling the Warriors to 20-18 at the break.
Weerts finished completing 7 out of 10 for 127 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for one more.
The Bluebirds couldn’t extend the lead past 8, though, and Weerts slipped in 1:43 left in the third quarter to finally get Peabody over the hump, 34-32, after going to Page for the two-point conversion.
The Warriors didn’t look back after that, stretching their lead as deep as 8 with Weerts going long for Philpott on a 34-yard touchdown and a 40-32 edge early in the final frame.
Goessel knotted the game at 46-46 with 4:44 left before Philpott broke loose for a 54-yard touchdown to push the lead back to eight and the Warriors’ final points.
The Bluebirds had a chance to force overtime with under a minute to go with Luke Wiens pulling Goessel to 54-52.
Goessel’s chance went down the drain with Peabody stopping the two-point attempt, which could’ve meant bonus football.
The Warriors finished with 447 total yards, steamrolling the Bluebirds for 320 rushing.
Peabody’s defense limited Goessel to 294 total, 179 on the ground, and a putrid 17 percent on third down.
Peabody wraps up the regular season with a tall order Friday night at Solomon.
Last modified Oct. 18, 2018