Hearne runs past young Goat team

The Groesbeck Goats lost their home-opener to the Hearne Eagles, 31-13, on Friday. It ran the Goats’ season record to 0-2.

They face another 0-2 team Friday on the road when they play the Marlin Bulldogs. The Groesbeck team that beat Marlin 70-0 last season is not the same team that will be taking the field in Marlin Friday at 7:30. The 70-0 victors group mainly consisted of 20 graduated Goats. The current Groesbeck team is made up of only seven seniors, 15 juniors, 10 sophomores and three freshmen.

Comments by Coach Jerry Bomar indicated just how far they have to go to give themselves a chance to be competitive on the field.

“We played poorly in the first half and much better in the second half,” Bomar said of the effort against Hearne. “The first quarter was the worst since I have been a head coach.”

That’s a period of 34 years. And in saying that, Bomar was referring to all aspects of the game. It also didn’t help when sophomore offensive tackle Joseph Brotherton suffered an ankle injury with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left in the first half. He will be out for a few games.

Bomar lamented his team’s miscues in the game.

“It was unbelievable how many mistakes we made,” he said. “We didn’t protect well enough on either offense or defense. We would get two or three chances to stop their top rusher, quarterback Micah Smith, and miss tackles. We’re still teaching them how to win games.”

Still, Bomar found some positive aspects in his team’s play.

“We only gave up three touchdowns while we scored two, so it could have been a sixpoint game. We did make three interceptions of Smith’s passes,” he said

The total statistics favored Hearne by only 28 more total yards than Groesbeck. The Eagles had 295 yards to 267 yards for Groesbeck. The Goats ran 67 plays to 51 for Hearne. They had 194 rushing yards and 73 passing yards. Hearne rushed for 221 yards and passed for 74 yards.

Groesbeck quarterback Zach Wilson was 10-for-31 passing for 73 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions. Two of the picks were returned for touchdowns of 45 and 80 yards.

Smith was 10-for- 21 passing for 74 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.

In the statistics, several Goats stood out for their performances as mentioned by Bomar.

“Terrell Conn had his best game running and blocking,” Bomar said of his junior running back. “Ma’Qua (Smith) also ran hard. Allen Lewis caught both touchdown passes from Wilson. I am really proud of how hard he works.”

Bomar also mentioned the three Goats intercepting Smith’s passes. They were John Reed, Coker Holloway and Brian Correa. Out of that group, only Correa is a senior while Lewis and Smith are freshmen. The other three are juniors.

Hearne held a 19-0 lead at the half. The better performance in the second half by the Goats resulted in their two scores.

Before they got started, though, Hearne took the third-quarter kickoff and drove 60 yards in seven plays to build a 25-0 lead. The Eagles ran a Wilson interception back 80 yards in the fourth to move to a 31-0 lead.

The Goats scored the final two touchdowns of the game.

A kickoff return by Arturo Soltello and 15-yard personal foul penalty for a late hit gave the Goats possession at the Hearne 34-yard line. They scored on the third play when Wilson hit Lewis in the end zone for a 13 yard scoring play with 9:02 left in the game. Rigo Sanchez kicked the extra point. Runs of 19 yards by Wilson and two yards by Conn preceded the scoring play.

Later in the quarter, Groesbeck got the ball on a turnover on downs on the Goat 35-yard line.  They drove 55 yards in 10 plays and scored on a 15-yard pass from Wilson to Lewis. The drive took 2:57. Sanchez kicked the extra point again.

The Goats recovered an onside kick, but only ran two plays before Hearne intercepted Wilson. The Eagles ran out the clock.

But the Goats only an two plays before Wilson got intercepted and Hearne ran out the clock.