Geneva’s passing attack takes flight
Another week, another Rob Wicinski gem.
“My strengths are the perimeter,” Wicinski said after watching junior quarterback Daniel Santacaterina throw for 245 yards and 4 touchdowns in the first half of a 35-28 win over St. Charles North on Friday.
“We want to get the ball out often and that was the game plan. I was hoping it would soften up the run game, but no, not so much. I’ve got to stay true to when I’m a sound, calm mind in June I knew I had to pass the ball so I’ve got to keep passing.”
Geneva sure looked good slinging the ball all over the Burgess Field in the first half. Pace Temple (6 catches, 125 yards) and Kyle Brown (5 catches, 111 yards) were Santacaterina’s favorite targets while Michael Landi also hauled in a touchdown.
Wicinski did try to get Geneva’s ground game on track in the second half with so-so results. T.J. Miller carried 24 times for 70 yards overall — 9 carries for 23 yards in the second half — while Maxwell Woodworth and Liam Burns added another 37 second-half yards.
Santacaterina had two of the most impressive runs, a 14-yard carry out of punt formation to pick up a first down in the fourth quarter, and another 12-yard first down run to eat a little more time off the clock. But the end result was a scoreless half after putting 35 points on the board in the first half.
On the other sideline, St. Charles North’s first-year coach Rob Pomazak saw a combination of positives with the Vikings’ aerial attack and frustration with his defense.
“They have a great passing game and when you mix that with a subaverage secondary that we had in the first half, that’s what’s going to happen, 35 points,” Pomazak said.
Injury update: St. Charles North senior Evan Kurtz entered Friday with an area-best 11 touchdowns and 615 rushing yards.
Kurtz added significantly to both totals with 22 carries for 189 yards and 2 touchdowns, but when the North Stars got the ball back with three minutes to go in the game and a chance to tie, Kurtz never entered the game. The Vikings held the North Stars on four downs to seal the win.
Pomazak said Kurtz was out with a stinger. The coach added he hopes Kurtz will be back this Friday against Streamwood.
Looking ahead: It was a tall order for Marmion to make its Week 6 trip to Aurora Christian a battle of 5-0 unbeatens. Montini held the Cadets to a field goal Friday, handing Marmion its first loss of the season, 27-3.
Instead, the Cadets and Eagles will take a combined 9-1 record into their matchup Friday.
That’s slightly better than the 7-3 mark St. Charles East (4-1) and Geneva (3-2) have in what could be a high-scoring affair in another excellent Week 6 matchup.
With his 5 passing touchdowns Friday against Elgin, the Saints’ Jimmy Mitchell has near identical numbers to his counterpart Santacterina. Unofficially, Mitchell has thrown for 1,213 yards and 17 touchdowns while Santacaterina has passed for 1,212 yards and 13 scores.