It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but the Goodrich Martians had no problem doing just that on Friday. They slipped by Freeland 21-20. The victory was nothing new for Goodrich as they're now sitting on five straight.
Leading Goodrich to victory were Easton Phipps and Chase Burnett. Phipps rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries, while Burnett rushed for 174 yards and a touchdown while picking up 7.6 yards per carry. Phipps' longest rush was for an incredible 71 yards. Another big playmaker for Goodrich was Max Macklem, who returned a punt for a touchdown.
When it comes to explaining why Freeland lost, one person who can't be blamed is Sam Talaga. Despite the final result, he rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown. Talaga has been hot recently, having posted six or more solo tackles the last ten times he's played.
Goodrich pushed their record up to 11-1 with that victory, which was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season. They've been dominating during the contests in that stretch too, as they've won by an average of 28.15 points. As for Freeland, their loss dropped their record down to 9-2.
Goodrich's homestand continues as they prepare to take on Haslett at 7:00 p.m. on November 10th. Haslett will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Michigan Rankings (they are ranked 85th, while Goodrich is ranked 27th). Freeland does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
