Geneva football snares marquee win over Richards

GENEVA – After escaping defending Class 6A state runner-up Richards on Friday night, it’s a good bet the next time the Vikings are tested this seriously at Burgess Field this season, it’ll be a home playoff game.

The Vikings can continue thinking big after a credibility-bolstering 22-19 victory against Richards to improve to 2-0 on the season.

“Our coach was telling us, this is like a second round, third round playoff game, and we get it in the second game of the season,” Geneva junior Justin Taormina said. “So it was a great challenge for us, and I was glad we were able to accept the challenge.”

Trailing by two touchdowns at halftime, Richards (1-1) tightened the game down the stretch. Romeo Johnson’s second rushing touchdown of the second half brought the Bulldogs within the final margin with 2:31 to play in the fourth quarter.

Richards, with all three timeouts remaining, bypassed an onside attempt and kicked away, a strategy that looked promising as Geneva faced a third-and-10 from its own 38-yard line with 2:08 to play.

But Vikings quarterback Daniel Santacaterina found 6-7 receiver Mike Landi on a slant route for a 14-yard gain and back-breaking first down, enabling the Vikings to run all but the last few seconds off the clock.

Landi is establishing himself as a quality possession receiver and strong complement to field-stretching classmate Pace Temple.

“Coach was saying ‘It’s going to be there, it’s going to be there, just go to the wide side,’ ” Landi said of the crucial third-down reception. “They only had one guy out there. We were working all week on those slants, ins, curls, everything coming back to the ball.”

The Vikings led, 14-0, at halftime, punctuated by a 17-yard TD pass from Santacaterina to Taormina with just 9 seconds left in the half. Santacaterina retained composure in the face of a heavy Richards pass rush before spotting the sliding Taormina open in the end zone.

“I was doubting myself a little bit, but glad I got the catch,” Taormina said.

Taormina, seeing extensive action with senior running back Liam Burns injured, also delivered Geneva’s lone touchdown of the second half, a 29-yard TD run with 5:53 left in the fourth quarter. A bad snap on the point after try allowed Temple, Geneva’s holder, to flash his speed rolling to his right, and his two-point conversion made it a two-possession game at 22-13.

The Vikings’ opening TD was a Santacaterina to Temple deep ball, a 74-yard connection in the first quarter. While that play might have many in the large crowd anticipating another offensive outburst similar to last week at West Aurora, Geneva’s offense – especially a lukewarm running game – was overshadowed by a solid defensive showing, counter to the program’s norm in recent seasons.

Geneva coach Rob Wicinski called the game a “huge confidence-builder for our defense.” The Vikings had five sacks, with defensive linemen Matt Loberg and Stephen Kemp crippling Richards drives by dropping explosive Bulldogs quarterback Hasan Muhammad-Rogers for major losses.

“I’m really pleased with the defense,” Wicinski said. “If we can get some run game going, we could be dangerous.”

Penalties and sacks proved Richards’ undoing in the opening half as the Bulldogs retreated backward too frequently to cash in on promising drives. A missed 25-yard field goal in the second quarter allowed the Vikings to milk their shutout longer and loomed large given the final margin.

Santacaterina was 20 for 30 passing for 304 yards with two TDs and an interception. Temple had six catches for 156 yards, including a 39-yard catch on a risky fourth-and-11 play from the Vikings’ own 32.

With the Vikings’ remaining home games this regular season coming against Elgin, West Chicago and Larkin, Richards was – by far – the marquee attraction on the home schedule.

Wicinski acknowledged dissecting tape from rival Batavia’s 6A state championship game rout of Richards last November.

“Actually, [Batavia coach Dennis Piron] was great,” Wicinski said. “He sent every Richards tape over that he had, and we really appreciate that. That was really cool of him.

“It was good ideas. It was tough watching it. It hurt my stomach. I had the garbage can next to me, and I fought through it, so it was worth it to fight through that tape.”

GENEVA 22, RICHARDS 19

Richards    0    0    7    12    –    19

Geneva    7    7    0    8    –    22

HOW THEY SCORED First quarter G – Temple 74 pass from Santacaterina (Hines kick), 4:15 Second quarter G – Taormina 17 pass from Santacaterina (Hines kick), 0:09 Third quarter R – Muhammad-Rogers 5 run (Calderon kick), 6:24 Fourth quarter R – Johnson 10 run (kick failed), 9:29 G – Taormina 29 run (Temple run), 5:53 R – Johnson 1 run (run failed), 2:31

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING – Richards: Bridgewater 2-11, Muhammad-Rogers 23-30, Doyle 5-5, Johnson 7-41, Willett 1-3. Totals: 38-90. Geneva: Nebel 6-15, Woodworth 3-6, Santacaterina 4-3, Taormina 12-34, Mayes 1-3. Totals: 26-61. PASSING – Richards: Muhammad-Rogers 18-30-0-245. Geneva: Santacaterina 20-30-1-304. RECEIVING – Richards: Willett 5-166, Johnson 4-41, Bridgewater 1-2, Boykin 7-48, Hill 1-8. Totals: 18-245. Geneva: Woodworth 5-41, Temple 6-156, Wassel 1-2, Skibinski 1-29, Landi 5-55, Taormina 2-21. Totals: 20-304. TOTAL YARDS – Richards 335, Geneva 365