Genoa-Kingston picks up fifth win: Daily Chronicle football roundup for Oct. 25

Genoa-Kingston 29, Rockford Lutheran 14: At Rockford, the Cogs kept the Crusaders off the board for the final 30:13 to likely secure a playoff berth.

Pairings are announced Saturday night.

“It feels great,” coach Cam Davekos said. “I’m just so proud of the kids. They really believed in each other and stepped up, played hard, played assignment-sound football. I couldn’t be happier for them.”

Peyton Meyer hauled in a 14-yard touchdown pass from Nathan Kleba to put the Cogs (5-4, 4-4) ahead 14-7, but the Crusaders (6-3, 6-3) returned the kickoff for a touchdown to tie things back up with 6:13 left in the second quarter.

But it only took Genoa-Kingston about three minutes to respond when Patrick Young broke through the line for a 33-yard touchdown run and a 21-14 lead the Cogs would not relinquish.

Owen Zaccard added a touchdown in the third quarter to push the lead to 29-14. The defense took care of the rest.

“Defensively we were flying around to the football and we contained, and like I said, played great assignment-sound football,” Davekos said. “We kept everything in front of us. We knew they were going to get some yards here and there, because they are fast and dynamic. But we kept it in front of us so we could play another down, then we could run clock and wear them down.”

Kleba started the scoring with a 43-yard touchdown pass to Young. On the next drive Kleba had an interception he took back near the goal line but fumbled out the back of the end zone, giving the ball back to the Crusaders.

Milledgeville 58, Hiawatha 28: At Kirkland, the Hawks’ season ended with a 2-7 record.

Tim Pruitt had an early interception return for a touchdown to tie things up 6-6, though the Missiles went up 52-6 at the half. Pruitt also had a 45-yard touchdown run.

Colby Wylde had two interceptions despite a broken hand and added three catches for 60 yards. Tommy Butler had 127 rushing yards, two touchdowns and 14 tackles.

“The year was trying at times, but we have a lot of young kids that will build on what we learned,” coach Kenny McPeek said. “We only lose three starters, so that’s a good solid nucleus. We had 29 players out this year and only lose five seniors.

“The future looks pretty good.”