Geneva football holds off Hononegah, on to 7A quarterfinals

GENEVA – The Geneva football team went from having its IHSA Class 7A second-round playoff game well in hand to desperately fighting off hard-charging Rockton Hononegah in the closing minutes.

"That's playoff football," Geneva coach Rob Wicinski said.

The Vikings are in for more of that after thwarting Hononegah’s comeback for a 26-20 win Saturday at Burgess Field. Geneva (10-1) advances to visit top-seeded Cary-Grove (11-0) in next week’s quarterfinal round.

Geneva led, 26-7, after quarterback Daniel Santacaterina hit fullback Max Woodworth on a 4-yard touchdown pass to open the fourth quarter. Considering the Wing-T Indians aren't known as a quick-strike offense and didn't even attempt a pass in the first half, the Vikings were in commanding position.

But Hononegah (9-2) showed an ability to mix the pass into its attack and scored on a 5-yard touchdown run from Samuel Ballano with 8:31 to go, making it 26-13. The Indians then recovered an onside kick and benefited from a pass interference call on fourth-and-18 to keep the ensuing drive going.

Indians quarterback Daytona Chandler fired a 19-yard touchdown pass to Tristyn Berg at the 3:51 mark of the fourth quarter, and the point after made it 26-20.

Geneva's heartburn intensified – substantially – when the Indians' Fernie Silva recovered a fumble at the Geneva 33-yard line with 3:06 to play. But the Indians' bid to drive for the go-ahead score never gained traction, as a holding penalty and tackle for a loss by Chris Barger backed Hononegah up before Vikings senior Brock Perry intercepted a fourth down heave with 1:31 left.

The Vikings were able to extinguish the clock and celebrate their second home playoff win in as many weeks.

Despite the fourth quarter miscues, Wicinski was mostly proud with how his team handled a hard-nosed Hononegah team that set a bruising tone with an 80-yard drive that spanned almost 8 minutes late in the first quarter and spilling into the second. That tied the game, 7-all, after Geneva went up early on a Justin Taormina 3-yard TD run.

"We weren't built for this team," Wicinski said of his defense. "We were built more for spread teams. That's kind of the way we've evolved over these past four or five years. Missing [defensive end Jack McCloughan, broken hand], he's a big part of our defense, so I thought Collin Lee stepped up and did a really great job, and especially against this team. Collin Lee's more of a spread type of an end, not a pound it type end, but he sure showed some nice speed."

Lee, a junior who moved from safety to defensive end at the start of the season, acknowledged he's "not the biggest guy out there, that's for sure," but still complemented pass-rushing dynamos Stephen Kemp and Matt Loberg with some timely plays.

"I was kind of nervous but I had a good week of practice, everyone had a good week of practice," Lee said. "We knew they were going to run the ball a lot and we were well prepared."

The Vikings led, 14-7, at halftime, after Santacaterina rolled to his left and hit a sliding Pace Temple for a 3-yard TD pass just 7 seconds before intermission. Wicinski said he's not sure if he would have ordered a short field goal or attempted another play if the pass wasn't completed, but he was relieved he didn't have to decide.

Santacaterina (11 of 12 passing for 141 yards, three TD passes) added an 18-yard TD hookup with junior Jack Wassel that made it 20-7 with 5:07 left in the third quarter. Alex Browere's PAT attempt ricocheted no good off the right post.

"The quarterback's a heck of a player and [Temple] is a great receiver," Hononegah coach Tim Sughroue said. "They can go to a lot of weapons so it's hard to say you want to take anything away, but [Temple] is a very good player, I'd say that, for sure. He was something we were concerned about, but hey, [Mike Landi] made some big catches today, [Jack Wassel] made that one catch down there, so hey, they're spreading the wealth. They've got a lot of kids making plays. I thought we did a great job on run defense."

Vikings offensive tackle Loudon Vollbrecht saluted the Burgess Field crowd for its robust support as the Indians faltered in the closing minutes.

"It was great – it really shows what it means to this town, Geneva … everything that these fans do for us, we appreciate so much," Vollbrecht said.

GENEVA 26, ROCKTON HONONEGAH 20

Hononegah  0  7  0  13  –  20

Geneva  7  7  6  6  –  26

HOW THEY SCORED

First quarter

G – Taormina 3 run (Browere kick), 9:19

Second quarter

H – Reyes 2 run (Chase kick), 9:39

G – Temple 3 pass from Santacaterina (Browere kick), 0:07

Third quarter

G – Wassel 18 pass from Santacaterina (kick failed), 5:07

Fourth quarter

G – Woodworth 4 pass from Santacaterina (pass failed), 11:55

H – Ballano 5 run (pass failed), 8:31

H – Berg 19 pass from Chandler (Chase kick), 3:51

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Hononegah: Ballano 18-90, Dodd 10-44, Chandler 9-minus 15, Reyes 7-27, Nordlie 5-minus 1, Barry 2-8. Totals: 51-153. Geneva: Santacaterina 6-3, Taormina 22-96, Woodworth 6-43, Temple 1-4, Burns 1-1. Totals: 36-147.

PASSING – Hononegah: Chandler 6-12-1-56, Barry 1-1-0-38. Totals: 7-13-1-94. Geneva: Santacaterina 11-12-0-141.

RECEIVING – Hononegah: Harter 4-32, Ballano 1-38, Reyes 1-5, Berg 1-19. Totals: 7-94. Geneva: Temple 5-65, Woodworth 3-20, Landi 2-38, Wassel 1-18. Totals: 11-141.

TOTAL OFFENSE – Hononegah 247, Geneva 288