Glacier scored two touchdowns and ran for 169 yards on 12 carries to lead the West to a 48-20 victory over the East in the 77th Montana East-West Shrine Game Saturday night at Wendy’s Field at Daylis Stadium.
Goicoechea’s efforts helped the West to its fourth straight win in the series that raises money for the Shriners Children’s hospital in Spokane, Washington.
The West narrowed their all-time series gap with the East to 41-36 with the victory in which it led 28-0 at intermission.
“It feels great. We set the tone early,” said Goicoechea of earning the win before a crowd of 2,600. “We had ups and downs, but finished strong. It was a great overall performance by everyone.
“Everyone did their jobs, the O-Line and receivers and everyone did their part and came together.”
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After the game, Goicoechea was named the Roger Silvernale Most Outstanding Player.
The West scored on its very first possession on a six-play drive when Goicoechea busted through for a 57-yard touchdown at the 12:02 mark of the first quarter. Mason Kelch of Whitefish made the conversion kick to help the West take an early 7-0 lead.
They then forced a turnover on downs on the East’s next possession and scored again eight plays later when Joey Sandberg of Missoula Big Sky ran it in from four yards at 5:33 of the first quarter. Another conversion by Kelch had the West up 14-0.
Goicoechea said it was nice to get the big early lead, but he was confident in his teammates’ abilities entering the contest.
