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Geneva passes up Streamwood

Geneva head coach Rob Wicinski admitted that maybe he was a bit stubborn with his passing calls early on in the Vikings' 46-12 route of Upstate Eight River foe Streamwood at Millennium Field Friday night.

You'd never know based on the final score that Streamwood (0-3, 0-1) jumped out to a 6-0 lead after Keagan Cordone intercepted Daniel Santacaterina at the Geneva 25-yard line and returned it 24 yards for Sabres quarterback Max Draper to then punch it in from a yard out with 8:17 on the clock in the first quarter.

It took Geneva 5 passes during its first 3 drives to realize that the elements surely weren't going to let any of the Vikings' passes connect.

“I should have, I should have, I was stubborn,” Wicinski said of changing things up. “We sent that one wide and they got that interception right away and scored six. In the second half we kind of toned it down and downshifted. But we have to be able to throw the ball in the elements, so we gathered good data.”

But the Daily Herald's 10th-ranked team and No. 7 ranked team in the Class 7A AP poll stayed poised, and even gained more data from running back Justin Taormina.

On Geneva's fourth drive of the first quarter that was all run, the junior's number was called 7 times during a 9-play, 66-yard drive, with his 3-yard touchdown run tying the game at 6 with 30 seconds left in the first quarter.

Twelve more minutes, 9 more carries and 3 more touchdowns later (runs of 30, 8 and 5), Taormina finished with 16 carries and 129 yards with 4 touchdowns to boot in the first half and by the time halftime came around, Geneva (3-0, 1-0) was up 36-6 and wasn't looking back.

“He got four? Geez, Taormina. Good for him,” Wicinski said. “We have a three-headed monster and we can't get the third head healthy in (Liam Burns) but (Taormina and Justin Nebel) have opportunities and they're taking advantage of it and it's encouraging to see.”

Taormina added his seventh rushing touchdown of the season and his ninth overall while the other head of the monster, Nebel, carried the ball 6 times for 47 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown late as the Vikings outrushed the Sabres 252 to 94 and edged them in total yards 398 to 204, as Taormina thanked his offensive line of Joey Wagner, Loundon Vollbrecht, Ben Baker, John Boenzi and T.K. Hood for plowing the road.

“We knew with the elements today we'd have to get the run game going, that's our focus throughout the week was to get the running game going and we accomplished that,” Taormina said. “Coach Wicinski told us to keep our poise and we were able to punch in four touchdowns before half and it was a great team win for us.”

Geneva's Santacaterina finished 8 of 18 for 146 yards with 1 touchdown run and 1 interception. Jack McCloughan ran back a 20-yard touchdown fumble return.

Streamwood's Draper finished 15 for 35 for 112 yards, 2 touchdown runs and 1 interception while Tae Reetz rushed 13 times for 22 yards, but during the first 12 minutes it looked as if they were up to play the role of spoiler to say the least. After Draper's touchdown gave them the early lead, the Sabres recovered the subsequent onside kick. Three plays later Sean Chambers intercepted Draper's pass and when Streamwood got the ball back, it had a lack of field position until the very end. The Sabres got stuck on their 4, 11, 24, 39 and 44 in the first half. Of their 8 total punts for 199 yards, one netted 4 yards that set the table for a Geneva drive late in the first half at the Sabre 8.

“We started with bad field position basically the entire night and that hurt us. We weren't converting on third down so we went three-and-out and have to punt the ball and the entire time they didn't put a returner back,” said Sabres' coach Mark Orszula, who mentioned his team had a tough time with the rain. “They had a 11 guys in the box and they were bringing the heat. We were getting the (punts) off we weren't getting the distance.”

Images: Streamwood vs. Geneva football

  Streamwood's Tae Reetz runs the ball against Geneva at Millennium Field in Streamwood on Friday night. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Streamwood's Keagan Cordone runs the ball against Geneva during a varsity football game at Millennium Field in Streamwood Friday night. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Streamwood's Keagan Cordone, right, is wrapped up by Geneva's Stephen Moyer, left, during a varsity football game at Millennium Field in Streamwood Friday night. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Streamwood's Nino Adkins, left, tries to evade Geneva's Matthew Loberg at Millennium Field in Streamwood on Friday night. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Geneva's Justin Taormina is tripped up by Streamwood's Jesse Rico as Taormina runs with the ball during a varsity football game at Millennium Field in Streamwood Friday night. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Geneva's Justin Taormina runs the ball during a varsity football game at Millennium Field in Streamwood Friday night. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Geneva's Justin Taormina runs the ball during a varsity football game at Millennium Field in Streamwood Friday night. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Streamwood's Tae Reetz runs the ball against Geneva during a varsity football game at Millennium Field in Streamwood Friday night. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Geneva's Michael Landi, left, snags a reception during a varsity football game against Streamwood at Millennium Field in Streamwood Friday night. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Geneva's Michael Landi picks up some yardage after snagging a reception during a varsity football game against Streamwood at Millennium Field in Streamwood Friday night. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Streamwood quarterback Max Draper fires a pass in the rain against Geneva at Millennium Field in Streamwood on Friday. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
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