Geneva's Waldoch kicking for cancer research

Wins have been hard to come by for Geneva's football team this season.

Outscored 115-24 in their first 3 games, the Vikings suffered a 56-20 setback at the hands of St. Charles East last Friday night at Norris Stadium.

While falling to 0-5 overall and 0-3 in the inaugural season of the DuKane Conference, the Vikings were also all but eliminated from playoff contention with 4 regular-season games remaining.

Against St. Charles East, Geneva fell behind early and could never recover.

The Saints (4-1, 2-1) blitzed their way to a 28-0 first-quarter lead, scoring 3 touchdowns over a 5-minute span on touchdown passes covering 54, 42, and 63 yards from junior quarterback B.J. Crossen.

Despite giving up 502 yards of total offense, there were several positives for the Vikings.

Senior middle linebacker Daniel Majewski recorded a team-leading 9 tackles, while junior defensive back Jackson Hagen thwarted a Saints' late second-quarter drive with his fumble recovery.

Two plays later, the Vikings flipped that turnover into a touchdown of their own.

Senior fullback Reilly Waldoch shot through a hole and raced 93 yards into the end zone to pull Geneva within 35-13 at halftime.

"It felt good getting the ball and making that run," said Waldoch, who also collected 4 tackles at linebacker. "It's the longest run of my career."

Waldoch (5 carries, 104 yards) and teammate Brendan Krohe (26 carries, 100 yards) both topped the 100-yard mark while the former added a pair of receptions for a team-leading 60 yards.

"I'm just here to help my team no matter what," said Waldoch.

The winless start has failed to slow the Vikings' enthusiasm.

"We're not checking out at all," said Waldoch. "Every week, we're going to play whoever we play. It doesn't matter about records at this point.

"We're just here to represent our town and our school."

After running the length of the field on his career-long TD run last weekend, Waldoch, a rare 3-way starter - offense, defense and special teams - took a few moments to collect his breath before booting the extra point.

Every successful PAT kick and field goal holds a little extra meaning for Waldoch.

While attending a kicking camp last year, Waldoch learned of Kick-It Champions, a fundraising program designed for student-athletes who are football kickers, punters and long snappers.

Associated with the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, all proceeds from Kick-It Champions benefit childhood cancer research.

"It struck a chord in me," said Waldoch, far from the prototypical kicker at 6-foot-2, 218 pounds. "At the time, one of my friend's cousins passed away from pediatric cancer. I realized why not try to help people through football."

Last year, Waldoch helped raise more than $2,000 through donations and pledges as he accounted for 34 points (PATs and field goals).

This year, he has raised $1,185 - and counting.

"Football is great but there are a lot more important things that affect us worldwide," said Waldoch, who plans on playing college football somewhere next season.

Interested donors can contact Reilly or Laura Waldoch on the Kick-It Champions website.

Holm honored: Congratulations to Batavia's Matt Holm on last week's induction into the BPS 101 Hall of Honor.

Holm, who compiled 349 wins and a pair of Elite 8 appearances during his 24-year career as Batavia head baseball coach (1992-2016), has served as an assistant football coach with the Bulldogs since 1991.

The 1987 graduate was the Bulldogs' defensive coordinator during their state championship runs in 2013 and 2017.

"I like that it's the Hall of Honor," said Holm. "The cool part was that I was nominated last spring by one of our players, Will Fitch. It was a fun ceremony with a lot of friends and family there as well as the entire football team."

Holm has been a part of many bus rides to and from games over the years, including the memorable state title trips from DeKalb.

"In 2010, we came back from a 6-game deficit with 7 games left to play to win conference at Yorkville," he said.

100th Geneva-Batavia game: Bulldog Stadium will be the scene for Friday night's 100th football game between rivals Geneva and Batavia.

Here are a few fun facts:

Geneva leads the series, 51-43, with 5 ties.

A total of 39 points separate the two teams - Geneva (1,506), Batavia (1,467).

Longest win streaks during the series - Geneva 19 (1967-1985), Batavia 8 (1995-2003).

Highest scoring game - Batavia 46, Geneva 34 (2011).

There have been two scoreless games (1933 and 1946).

Most lopsided outcomes - Batavia won 64-0 (1916), while Geneva won 48-0 on two occasions (1927, 1985).

Longest game - Batavia won 20-17 in 4 overtimes in 2003.

There was one playoff meeting - Batavia won 28-0 in 2006.

A total of 39 games have been decided by shutout.

No games were played in 1914, 1915, 1918, 1934, 1935, 1936, and 1996 (they were in separate divisions of the Suburban Prairie Conference).

You can reach Craig Brueske at csb4k@hotmail.com