Geneva surprises Wheaton North
If at first you do succeed, by all means try it again.
Twice Geneva executed onside kicks to surprise Wheaton North, adding a successful fake punt to lift the Vikings to a 33-24 nonconference win on Friday at Geneva’s Burgess Field.
“I could tell you in the last 12 years I’ve probably had one, maybe two (successful onside kicks), tops,” said Vikings coach Rob Wicinski. “Tried 300 million of them, and none of them happened. I hope I didn’t hit my quota now and I’m off to another 12-year dry spell.”
In a wild 30-point first quarter Geneva (2-0) didn’t shrink after Wheaton North quarterback John Peltz hit Micah Penn for a 69-yard touchdown pass on the Falcons’ first play from scrimmage.
“We were expecting some sort of a fight, but the way they returned I give credit to them and their coach,” said Penn, who caught 7 passes for 175 yards, including a 20-yard third-quarter touchdown grab. Peltz passed for 318 yards.
The Vikings kept their next possession alive on a Williams pass to Kevin Curtin out of punt formation. That led to Parker Woodworth’s 16-yard touchdown run behind right guard Jake Mills.
Williams delivered a perfect onside kick directly to teammate Jake Peterson at Wheaton North’s 45-yard line. Five plays later Woodworth again followed Mills for a 6-yard touchdown run.
Wheaton North (1-1) answered on Marcin Gawlak’s 31-yard field goal to trim Geneva’s lead to 13-10 at 3:43 of the first quarter only to suffer déjà vu: Williams onside kick to Peterson, Woodworth — who ran for 178 yards on 31 carries — behind Mills and tight end Connor Einck for a 20-10 Vikings lead after the first quarter.
“Matt Williams put a good kick out there — put a great kick out there, it was awesome,” Peterson said. “Everyone did their job perfectly. It was beautiful twice.”
Johnny Daniels’ 27-yard touchdown catch from Peltz made the halftime score 20-17, Geneva.
The Vikings’ first drive in the third quarter provided the game-winning score. They went 92 yards on 12 plays, capped by Williams’ rollout and 14-yard pass, down and away where only Ben Rogers could catch it for a 26-17 lead at 4:28 of the third.
“There was a safety over the top and so I put it low, and I trust Ben to go down low to get any ball near him,” said the Northern Illinois-bound quarterback.
Each team scored once more, but with 4:25 to play and trailing 33-24 Wheaton North missed a field goal, and the Falcons’ last possession ended with Nick Caruso’s interception at Geneva’s own 3-yard line.
“They made plays all throughout the whole game all the way down to the last drive right there, getting a pick right there at the end to seal it for them. They deserve the credit,” said Falcons coach Joe Wardynski.