Geneva rolls St. Charles N.
The lights went out at the end of host St. Charles North's Upstate Eight River Division matchup Friday night against Geneva to allow a homecoming “glow” dance routine and fireworks to unfold.
It was the only time Geneva players couldn't see what they were doing.
When the lights were on, the Vikings rolled to the tune of 54-7 over St. Charles North, setting the stage for a conference showdown between two unbeaten teams next Friday when Batavia visits Geneva.
Geneva (5-0, 3-0) didn't wait long to spoil the homecoming hoopla for the North Stars when tailback Parker Woodworth (80 yards, three touchdowns) scampered 29 yards for the opening score to cap a 6-play, 87-yard drive less than three minutes into the game.
When Andy Francis recovered an Oshay Hodges fumble on the ensuing kickoff, Geneva was back in business again as quarterback Matt Williams pulled off a Harry Houdini trick by lofting a sky-high pass to the end zone as he was being pulled down. The ball floated into the hands of a leaping Connor Einck for a 16-yard touchdown reception and a 14-0 lead.
Ben Kaplan gave St. Charles North (0-5, 0-2) a spark with a 72-yard kickoff return to the Geneva 27-yard line on the ensuing kickoff, and George Edlund (13 carries, 51 yards) finished the short drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.
But Geneva followed the lead of its offensive line the rest of the quarter as Jake Mills, Kevin Carlson, Jacob Bastin and Connor Chapman blew open holes that resulted in touchdown runs of 27 yards for Woodworth and 44 yards for Michael DuVair.
The onslaught ended the first quarter with what seemed fitting as a final score of a game as Geneva led 27-7. And Woodworth started right up again with a 15-yard score in the third quarter.
“He really has a motor and never stops going and he's just having a phenomenal season,” Geneva coach Rob Wicinski said of Woodworth.
“We stuck to our game plan and things opened up and we really executed well,” Woodworth said. “The offensive line set the tone, that's where it comes from, and they were really good.”
Wicinski also had high praise for the offensive line, even though the Vikings suffered through a few uncharacteristic plays in the first half in which Williams faced a lot of blitzing pressure on pass plays and shanked a punt for a loss of two yards.
“When we were talking at halftime, the offensive line was just very confident, and once they got their feet under them, they really played well,” Wicinski said.
With Geneva's defense putting the clamps on the North Stars by allowing only 12 yards rushing in the second half, Viking wide receiver Ben Rogers drew the offensive spotlight by hauling in two passes in the end zone — a 22-yarder that was called back because of a penalty and a 25-yarder for the score on a fourth-and-14 play.
“We were on the same page tonight and hopefully we can keep it going,” Rogers said of finding open spots in the end zone when Williams was rolling out of the pocket. “It was a great night tonight, and anytime you go up by 14 points less than five minutes into the game, that's really big.”
Vikings linebacker Nick Caruso intercepted a Collin Peterson pass and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter, and Bobby Hess finished the scoring for the Vikings with an 11-yard fourth-quarter score.
Wicinski knows it wasn't a perfect game, despite the lopsided score.
“Matt has to understand he just has to manage the game, and sometimes we get caught trying to do too much, but he's got that mentality, so a lot of positives happen, too,” Wicinski said.
“We have some things to work on for sure. Anytime the defense puts eight men in the box and they start stunting from everywhere, it can be tough on those linemen, and we put them in some bad situations.”
St. Charles North coach Mark Gould struggled to find a bright spot for his North Stars.
“Edlund had some really nice runs early on, but we just couldn't finish tonight,” Gould said. “We had a lot of dropped passes, and we put the ball on the ground and we spotted them 20-some points in the first quarter.
“You can't do that against a good team, and they are a good team and you have to give them credit for that.”