Goats fall to Palmer for second consecutive loss, 42-20

The Groesbeck Goats suffered their second straight road loss Friday night, this one 42-20 to the Palmer Bulldogs.

Like last week, turnovers plagued the Goats from the start. On the opening drive quarterback Zach Wilson led his team to the Bulldogs’ 14-yard line, completing a pass to John Reed for 28 yards on fourth-and-26 and then gaining another 30 yards on a keeper. However, an interception in the end zone ended the scoring opportunity.

The Goats defense rose to the occasion and forced the Bulldogs to punt on their first drive. Casen Crane provided a big hit on third-and-six.

The Goats turned the ball over again on their second drive, and this time Palmer took advantage of it, covering 25 yards on three plays and scoring on a 13-yard run to take a 7-0 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.

Palmer scored on its next three possessions – on two pass plays and one run – while keeping the Goats scoreless through the first half and taking a 28-0 lead into the locker room.

The Bulldogs kept the pedal to the metal in the third quarter, scoring on their first drive, covering five plays in about a minute and a half, to take a 35-0 lead. The TD came on a 27-yard pass play.

The Goats got moving from there. After a 16-yard kickoff return by Brian Valentine, Wilson hit Brendon Morrow for nine yards. He then scrambled for three yards for a first down. Then, on a second-and-nine, Wilson scrambled to avoid a rush, got hit, but while falling backwards threw a pass to Ma’Qua Smith, who took it in for a 40-yard score with 7:51 to play in the third quarter. That cut the Palmer lead to 35-6.

Bradley Menzel led the Groesbeck defensive effort on the next Palmer drive, beginning with a nice tackle on the kickoff. He then turned in a tackle-for-loss that put the Bulldogs in passing situations that eventually led to a punt.

The Goats didn’t waste any time scoring again. On first-and-10 from the Bulldogs 27-yard line, Smith took the handoff and ran 73 yards for a touchdown. As a Bulldog defender was about to catch up, Tyson Pringle came through with a block that allowed Smith to cover the final 15 yards. Juan Palomo made the point-after kick and cut the Palmer lead to 35-13.

The Bulldogs mounted a lengthy drive, but Crane ended that with an interception at the Groesbeck 15-yard line.

The teams traded punts into the fourth quarter. 

Another turnover led to Palmer’s final touchdown. The Bulldogs only had to cover 10 yards to go up 42-13, with 8:57 to play in the game.

The Goats scored their final TD with 2:09 to play. Wilson hit Pringle who took it 86 yards to the end zone.

Groesbeck (2-2) will begin district play next week when it hosts Fairfield in a 7:30 p.m. homecoming game.