GOSHEN — Mike Cheviron’s first year as Goshen High School head football coach did not exactly go according to plan.

The Redskins, after a season-opening 24-17 win at Fort Wayne Carroll, dropped their next five in a row. Goshen rebounded to win two of its final three regular season contests before topping LaPorter, 21-20 in overtime in the Class 5A sectional quarterfinals.

That set up a rematch with Carroll, and the Chargers avenged their season-opening defeat, besting the Redskins, 28-10.

But Cheviron and a new group of Redskins are ready to turn the page and open a new season. They get the chance to do that this Friday night when they host Caroll.

Kickoff at Foreman Field is slated for 7:30 p.m.

The Redskins have a 9-3 edge in the most recent meetings between the two teams.

Competition for spots so far has been fierce, Cheviron said, with some younger players pushing hard.

“We had some guys that did really well in the offseason,” Cheviron said.

“And we had some older guys not work as hard as they should have. We had a couple of guys who I thought would be returning starters, who won’t necessarily be starters.”

The top returning quarterback for the Redskins is senior Tyler Slagel, who was 47-of-136 for 561 yards and four TDS in limited action last season.

Junior Chase Goodman and sophomore Derek MeMeyer are also pushing for playing time. “Those guys are all pretty close,” Cheviron said.

Also on offense, the Goshen rushing attack lost some big yardage with the graduation of Chunie Pung, who racked up 964 rushing yards and 10 TDs in 2011.  

But the Redskins appear to be deep at that position as the 2012 season approaches, with 5-10, 175-pound senior Travis Pickard and 5-8, 180-pound senior Justin Klabusich back. The Redskins have three running back positions in their offense: slot back, full back, and running back. “All three of those positions will carry the ball,” Cheviron said.

At receiver, 5-8, 160-pound senior Austin Henke (10 catches for 149 yards and two TDs will combine with senior tight ends Luke Harris (6-3, 200) and Hans Bontrager-Singer (6-0, 190) and junior tight end Austin Weirich (6-3, 210).

Harris, a versatile athlete, camn also play split end or slot back.

Up front, the Redskins are big, anchored by senior guard Tyler Beasy (5-10, 225) and junior tackle Mitchell Watts (6-3, 245).

Other offensive line candidates include senior Austin Miller (5-9, 245); junior guards Christian Macon (6-3, 250) and Chase Gregory (6-0, 235) and senior tackles Hunter Warrick (6-5, 250) and Alverto Velazquez (5-9, 230) Junior tackle George Palos (6-1, 310) also will compete for playing time.

Defensively, the Redskins are in good shape, with eight starters returning. Leading that group is senior linebacker Jesse Good (85 tackles); senior linebacker Skylar Stevens (68.5 tackles); and senior linebacker Pickard (40 tackles). Back in the secondary are senior cornerback Cristian Barron (33 tackles); senior cornerback Austin Henke (26 tackles); and senior cornerback Hunter Hamsher (42 tackles).

The defensive line lost all-NLC first team selection Brandon Daniels (63 tackles), but plenty of experience is back there as well, anchored by senior lineman Dan Heim (46 tackles); senior lineman Robbie Hoemig (40.5 tackles); and senior lineman Kyle Taylor (27.5 tackles).

Goshen gave up an average of 17.3 points per contest last season and scored 15.5.

Cheviron feels pretty good about where his defense is as the season approaches. “We’re ahead of where we were last year,” Cheviron said.

The NLC race, Cheviron said, will be wide-open, with defending champion Concord stilla t the top of the perch.

Cheviron hopes his team can be in the top tier of the conference when things shake out later this season.

“I’ll be upset if we’re not one of the top three teams,” Cheviron said. “If you want to go far in our sectional, you’ve got to place first or second in the NLC.”

The first key for the Redskins, Cheviron said, is a better start out of the gate in 2012.

“A 1-4 start isn’t going to cut it,” Cheviron said.