The Goessel High School football team scored first and never trailed Tuesday night at Burden, and rattled off five second-half touchdowns to turn a 14-6 halftime lead into an invitation to square off with Baileyville (10-0) at 2 p.m. Saturday in Goessel.
Neal Brubaker completed 10 of 15 pass attempts for 163 yards and two scores, but the running of Cameron Stultz (22 rushes – 142 yards) and Johnathan Berkholz (15-135) carried most of the Bluebirds' offensive load.
Berkholz opened the scoring by breaking a 56-yard touchdown run, and Stultz scored the subsequent conversion; these were the only tallies in the first quarter, and Stultz broke a 25-yard scoring run in the second quarter.
Then Burden broke through with a 6-yard pass from Bo Savage to Jacob Lawson. After halftime, Goessel answered with a 23-yard completion from Brubaker to Hayden Goerzen. Stultz added a 35-yard run, with Weston Hiebert catching the ensuing conversion pass. Burden struck again late in the quarter, but Goessel added three insurance touchdowns in the fourth quarter: a run and a reception by Berkholz, and a run by Brubaker.
A win over Baileyville would pit the Bluebirds (8-2) against the winner of Pretty Prairie (10-0) and Frankfort (8-2) on Nov. 13.
