Young Geneva still has the same goals

Here's a list of Geneva's returning starters.

Lance Árni.

Thus concludes the list of Geneva's returning starters.

Get the picture?

Actually, Árni might not count as a returning starter. Though he started at safety as a junior, the 6-foot-2, 203-pound senior switches to tailback this fall.

That means the Vikings have 11 new starters on defense and 11 new starters on offense.

Coach Rob Wicinski admits the learning curve of his inexperienced team could be weeks behind last year's veteran group, which finished 9-2 and reached a Class 7A second-round playoff game, but the former Northern Illinois Huskie isn't conceding a thing.

"We have the same goals every year," Wicinski said. "We'd like to win the conference and go deep in the playoffs. It depends. Do you want to create it and make it happen in how you commit to each other and the process? If so, we can reach those goals."

As Wicinski points out, none of his offensive lineman have played a varsity down. That may complicate life for the eventual starting quarterback, either senior Matt Everett or junior Bobby Murray. Murray is a track athlete with mobility. Everett took lots of snaps in junior varsity games last season. Wicinski said both will play in the Aug. 26 season opener against St. Francis.

Árni will be the featured ball carrier. He harbors aspirations of playing at the next level, his coach said.

Elsewhere, the Vikings return a few players who worked their way into the offensive rotation last season. Wide receiver Noah Davison is a multisport athlete who saw playing time and Luke Swanson worked in at fullback.

Defensively, the Vikings are as raw as a Rocky Balboa six-egg breakfast. Linebacker Nick Miller worked into the rotation last season. That's about it.

Three sophomores will join the varsity to plug some holes. That's an unusual development at a popular and successful program like Geneva, but Wicinski says it's necessary since participation as a whole has dropped approximately 10 percent per year programwide each of the past four years.

Wicinski said unlike last season when he could count on big plays from his skilled offense to rescue the team from a late deficit, these Vikings will have to win with defense and a dependable running attack that shortens games and gets Geneva to the fourth quarter in the lead or within striking distance of it. In a best-case scenario, Geneva would score first and avoid getting into a shootout.

Can the Vikings reload and challenge for the Upstate Eight Conference's River Division title?

"We'll find out. I don't know," Wicinski said. "We had a nice off-season getting to know them, but juniors are always an area of unknown. It's going to be fun. I told our coaches it's easy to throw the footballs out there when we have all the experienced players. Now, we have to earn our paychecks."