Genoa-Kingston shakes off slow start in needed win against Rock Falls

GENOA – For the first few minutes of Genoa-Kingston’s must-win game against Rock Falls on Friday, it looked like the Cogs’ season might be in trouble.

But after the Rockets returned the opening kick for a touchdown and forced a fumble on the Cogs’ first drive, G-K scored the next 44 points in a 52-13 win.

[ Photos: Rock Falls at Genoa-Kingston ]

“It was crucial for us, especially after two rough weeks in a row [to Byron at Stillman Valley],” said running back Brady Brewick, who ran for 203 yards. “I feel like this win was really good for our mental state going into next week.”

Brewick didn’t score until the Cogs’ fourth score of the first half pushed the lead to 30-0, but he acted as a decoy on a pair of touchdown runs by Nathan Kleba.

Austin Castaneda returned the opening kickoff 93 yards for the Rockets (1-7 overall and BNC). He fumbled initially at the 7-yard line, picked it up, and broke through scrums twice when it looked like the Cogs had him stopped before breaking to the left sideline for a 7-0 lead 24 seconds into the game.

“I think that’s what you see if you watch film on us. We’re good for a quarter or two, then we lose because of our discipline,” Rock Falls coach Kevin Parker said. “We lose track of what we’re supposed to be doing out there, and we make mistakes. When there’s plays to be made, we don’t make them at crucial times.”

The Cogs (4-4 overall and BNC) moved the ball on their first possession, getting into Rock Falls territory before Tyler Atterberry fumbled. But the defense forced a three-and-out, and the Cogs scored on their next possession when Kleba punched it in from 4 yards out.

“I knew our guys, after that kick return, we could settle in and still be good,” Brewick said. “Mistakes happen, it’s wet out, that could be part of it, but it was good for us to come back from that.”

Atterberry made up for his fumble by forcing and recovering one of his own, picking up the ball after quarterback Mason Landes fumbled. On the ensuing drive, Dakota Dynek ran the ball in 39 yards for a score and a 24-7 G-K lead.

G-K coach Cam Davekos said once the defense got on the field, both sides of the ball were able to fall into a rhythm.

“Once we got out there on defense that would calm the kids down a bit to take care of business, and they did,” Davekos said. “That only helped our offense, their confidence and the way we were blocking all night looked really good.”

To start the third quarter, Kleba was intercepted in the end zone trying to find Hayden Hodgson, who had 135 receiving yards last week against Stillman Valley. But on third-and-long on the ensuing drive, Tristan Swenson returned a Landes interception 22 yards for a touchdown and a 38-7 lead with 6:10 left in the third quarter.

Genoa-Kingston had five players accumulate at least 40 rushing yards as they ran for 474 yards on 55 carries, including 79 on four carries for Peyton Meyer. Last week, against Stillman Valley, they averaged 2.6 yards per carry.

The Rockets finished with 156 yards of total offense. Maverik Johnson had a 65-yard scoring run to cut the lead to 44-13 in the third quarter, but Austin Braffet answered with a fourth-quarter run for the Cogs.

The Cogs entered the game needing to win out against the Rockets and Rockford Lutheran in Week 9. They’re now a win away from making their eighth straight postseason.

“They’re must-win games, and it’s a lot of pressure for the kids,” Davekos said. “But we tell them to control what they control, make sure they have effort, attitude and toughness on every single play and good things will happen.”

The Rockets close the season against Winnebago.

“We think if it’s a game that if we do what we’re supposed to do, we can compete,” Parker said. “We’d love a win to end the season. We’re a very young program, and we have a lot of kids that will be back next year. ... We still want to finish this season off well and move into our offseason.”