Geanes, Tumilty track down Willowbrook victory
A track meet broke out on the football field on a cold Friday night in Villa Park.
Formidable running games from Willowbrook and Moline squared off in a postseason opener in IHSA Class 7A, and their stars did not disappoint.
But the quick-strike Warriors proved to be too much, outpacing the Maroons 48-21 to advance to the second round and a date next weekend with Yorkville, which won in convincing fashion over TF South.
Willowbrook's stars shined brightest, as quarterback Sam Tumilty and tailback T'Avion Geanes tallied three rushing scores apiece.
"Sam did a good job improvising on some things as things broke down as he always does," Willowbrook coach Nick Hildreth said. "T'Avion really came on strong, ran the ball hard as the game went on, picked up some big first downs in spots where we really needed it."
The Warriors set the tone early with a long opening drive capped by a Geanes 7-yard TD run.
A quick Willowbrook stop led to another score, when Tumilty sprinted 55 yards to paydirt on the first play of his team's second possession. It was 14-0 early.
"I think it's good that our offense starts nice and fast," Tumilty said. "My O-line picked out really good blocks, and T'Avion Geanes is running real hard, aggressive out there. ... I think it's great that we had both our run game going and we also could get our passing going. It all starts on the front line."
While Moline sprung to life in the second quarter, scoring twice including an 85-yard pass to Nate Johnson, Willowbrook's attack never stopped.
"In playing them and what they run and what they do, if you're not responsibility sound, you're putting yourself in a bad spot," Hildreth said.
The Warriors scored two more times before half, each TD coming courtesy of Tumilty's legs. The quarterback made something out of nothing for another 55-yard TD and then set up a 1-yard score with a scamper up the middle for 45 yards.
The Willowbrook defense held in check the potent Moline triple-option rushing attack. Vaunted Moline back Kaden Dreifurst had two scores - a 2-yard run in the second quarter and a 20-yard burst in the fourth quarter.
In between, however, the Warriors had built a lead that never was really be threatened.
Geanes' 45-yard scoring run and Kevin Fitzgerald's subsequent interception sealed the victory at 48-21.
The date and time is yet to be determined for Willowbrook's next matchup with Yorkville, which finished the regular season 7-2 in the Southwest Prairie Conference's West Division. Yorkville's only losses came to unbeaten Minooka, Class 8A's top seed, and 8-1 Oswego.
The Foxes have given up just 99 points this season while scoring 283.
Willowbrook will look to equal its performance last season, when it advanced to the quarterfinals of the 7A tournament before bowing to Batavia.
"I think there's still some things to clean up," Tumilty said. "We'll watch film and pick those things up. We're definitely playing better ball at this point in the season."
Orrin Schwarz contributed to this story.