The Victory Christian Academy football team didn”t have an answer for Freddy Goodgame on Friday night.
Goodgame ran for five touchdowns, threw two touchdowns, a returned a kick for another score to lead Tabernacle Christian (Ala.) to a 58-28 victory in a Christian Football Association game in Columbus.
Each time it seemed like Victory Christian would pick up a huge defensive stop, Tabernacle delivered a big play.
Goodgame led Tabernacle (3-0) with 349 all-purpose yards. He rushed for 191 yards on 23 carries and threw for 166. He added 92 yards on the kick return for a touchdown.
“It”s been like that all year,” Tabernacle coach Wayne Dabbs said of Goodgame”s performance. “Our offense goes as far as he takes it sometimes.”
Victory Christian coach Chris Hamm also praised the Torches” running back.
“(Goodgame) did a real good job, but we knew that coming in,” Hamm said. “We thought we were prepared.”
Offense dominated as the Torches totaled 604 yards and Victory Christian gained 400 yards.
The scoreboard exploded in the second quarter as the teams scored 48 points, including 20 points in just 28 seconds. Tabernacle entered the quarter with an 8-6 lead and went into halftime with a 36-20 advantage.
The Eagles responded with a quick rushing touchdown by quarterback Bryer Bolton followed by a two-point conversion to cut the lead to 36-28. However, Tabernacle responded with a scoring drive to push the lead back to 44-28. The drive included a fourth-down conversion on a 22-yard screen pass from Goodgame to running back Tristan Castro.
That screen pass proved effective for Tabernacle, as it used it repeatedly in clutch situations.
“We kept trying to get somebody to it, but it was a well-designed play,” Hamm said. “They ran it out of different sets.”
Dabbs said it was a perfect counter to Victory Christian”s aggressive defense.
“Victory Christian is so good at stacking the box and bringing eight guys,” Dabbs said. “When teams line up in the box, if they”re coming hard, week in and week out, that”s one of our go-to plays.”
Running back Kaleb Holliness led Victory Christian with 147 rushing yards on 18 carries and a touchdown. Bolton added 135 yards passing and 41 rushing yards, including two touchdowns. Wide receiver Anthony Sharp had six receptions for 74 yards and 56 yards rushing.
Tabernacle scored on the first drive, going 58 yards on eight plays and scoring on the two-point conversion to take an 8-0 lead.
The Eagles responded with a 69-yard scoring drive that Jay Pace capped with a 6-yard touchdown.
Tabernacle responded with a Goodgame touchdown run with 9 minutes, 19 seconds left in the first half and a 58-yard touchdown run with 6:03 left to take a 22-6 lead.
After Victory Christian scored on a Holliness touchdown run with 3:49 left, Goodgame returned a kickoff 92 yards to make it 28-14.
Victory Christian responded on the first play of the following drive with a 57-yard run by Holliness with 3:21 left in the half, finalizing a 20-point explosion between the teams that took 28 seconds.
The Torches never trailed and forced four turnovers.
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