Michael Rumoro, Anthony Chahino lead Geneva to 45-31 win over Wheaton Warrenville South

WHEATON – Geneva coach Boone Thorgesen had been waiting for weeks to get running back Michael Rumoro going.

In the DuKane Conference opener against Wheaton Warrenville South, Rumoro got more than his fair share.

Rumoro finished with 200 yards and two scores to help the visiting Vikings to a 45-31 victory over the Tigers.

“We were really close to getting our rushing game going in our first two games. We were just one assignment or one block too short and our passing game has been awesome through three weeks,” Thorgesen said. “But I’m just so happy for Michael. He works his tail off and he’s a great back. He had a huge game and it was great to see.”

Rumoro, a senior, finished with 83 rushing yards on 17 carries to go with four catches for 117 receiving yards in the game. Those were both team highs for an offense that accumulated more than 400 yards of total offense in the game.

“It’s an awesome feeling,” Rumoro said. “I love running the ball, so doing this was pretty exciting and I’m just ecstatic for what happened.”

The passing game also saw some big contributions for the Vikings. Quarterback Anthony Chahino finished the game with a season-high 309 passing yards and four touchdowns. It was his third straight four-plus touchdown performance of the season.

“It was just pure excitement,” Chahino said. “We have a goal to win the conference, win all our games and win state, and piece by piece, we’re building up to it. We had a goal tonight to wreck the homecoming and we did just that.”

Chahino had a statement moment on the Vikings’ first drive in the second half. With the ball on the Vikings’ 4-yard line, Chahino needed only three passes to go 96 yards – a 43-yard pass across his body to Rumoro, a 33-yard pass to Bennett Konkey and a 20-yard TD to Finnegan Weppner.

“I know my team and I know my line. That’s probably the biggest takeaway for me from that,” Chahino said. “I probably have the best line in the state of Illinois and I’m so thankful for that. It gave me enough time to do whatever I needed, and when I need to, I deliver the ball.”

Konkey, a sophomore, finished with four catches for 88 yards and a touchdown. He had an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to give the Vikings the lead for good in the first quarter.

“We knew that our other two receivers were big names to be targeted, so we told him that he’s going to have games like this,” Thorgesen said. “He’s a burner and it was really good to see him get a lot of action.”

The Tigers didn’t go down without a fight, putting up three touchdowns in the second half to close the gap. Quarterback Luca Carbonaro finished with 218 passing yards and 69 rushing yards, including a 50-yard scramble for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Wide receiver Amari Williams finished with nine receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns.

“Amari really rose to the occasion and made plays when we really needed it and Luca really held in tough back there,” Wheaton Warrenville South coach Sean Norris said. “This is the second week in a row where they never gave up and battled to the last minute. We just need to eliminate those mistakes against good teams because we’ve been playing inconsistently through four quarters. But I think these guys will respond to the challenge.”