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The Straughn Tigers got off to a slow start against the Goshen Eagles Friday night, but ended up making things interesting down the stretch before ultimately falling in the regular season finale, 33-21.

The Tigers fell behind 23-7 by the end of the first half, but then outscored the Eagles 14-3 in the second half until Goshen scored to put the game away with less than a minute to go.

Goshen got things going right away, scoring on the very first play from scrimmage on an 80-yard run.

A nice kickoff return by Zac Dixon helped set the Tigers up for a possible score, but the Goshen defense held on a fourth down to get the ball back. The Eagles increased the lead to 14-0 on their next possession, pushing the ball in on a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line.

Straughn got backed up on their next possession. Under pressure, quarterback Tate Watson retreated into the end zone where he would get called for intentional grounding, give Goshen a safety and a 16-0 edge.

Goshen added another touchdown with just over five minutes to go in the half, making the score 23-0.

Straughn got on the board as time expired on the half when Charlie Jordan bulled his way into the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, making the score 23-7 at the half.

Goshen kicked a 34-yard field goal to get the scoring underway in the second half, increasing its lead to 26-7.

In the fourth, Straughn picked things up through the air with a 42-yard pass from Watson to Mack McIntyre, setting up a 17-yard touchdown pass to Eli Grissett, cutting the lead to 26-14 with 5:08 to go.

Straughn was successful with an onside kick as Brayden Gunter recovered for the Tigers. A personal foul helped the Tigers, ultimately scoring on a 3-yard quarterback sneak by Watson, putting the Tigers within striking distance, 26-21 with 1:55 to go.

This time, the onside kick did not go Straughn’s way and on second down the Eagles found a hole for a long touchdown to secure the victory, 33-21.

With the loss, the Tigers fall to 5-5 on the season.

With a 5-2 region record, the Tigers are the fourth seed in Class 4A, Region 2 and will travel to Pleasant Grove for the first round of the playoffs next week.