Fumbles seal Genoa-Kingston’s fate against Durand-Pecatonia in playoff opener

PECATONICA – Genoa-Kingston’s offense through the first 20 minutes of Saturday’s Class 3A first-round playoff game against Durand-Pecatonica was having issues with the Rivermen defense, but was still moving the ball and picking up first downs at times.

Things, however, turned from bad to worse in the final four minutes of the first half.

The No. 14 Cogs fumbled four times in that stretch, the No. 3 Rivermen scored on three of those possessions and hit the running clock for the entire second half in a 66-0 Du-Pec win.

“I mean that sucks. No one is trying to fumble the ball. It’s tough,” G-K quarterback Nathan Kleba said. “We were just trying to get things going and nothing was working.”

The Rivermen (9-1) advance to face Buckley-Loda or Monmouth-Roseville in the second round.

Midway through the second quarter, the Cogs (5-5) - who started their first three drives at their own 11, 17 and 11 - reached Du-Pec territory for the first time down 20-0. But Kleba was sacked and an unsportsmanlike call right after stalled the drive.

Du-Pec started the ensuing drive on its own 30 - by far its worst starting field position of the game - and rolled off a seven-play scoring drive, capped by a 2-yard sneak by Cooper Hoffman for a 27-0 lead with 3:34 left.

Then the fumbles started. Jaxon Diedrich recovered a strip-sack of Kleba, and two plays later the Rivermen had a touchdown and a 33-0 lead. The Cogs got near midfield but Kleba fumbled a fake punt attempt and the Rivermen scored on the first play of the next drive.

“Things just didn’t go our way today,” Cogs coach Cam Davekos said. “It was hard to bounce back from those kinds of things that happened. All the credit to Du-Pec. They were fast, they were physical and we just didn’t have it today.”

On a Patrick Young run for the Cogs, Justin Anderson ripped the ball away and ran 16 yards to the end zone for a 46-0 lead with 46.7 seconds left, then the Cogs fumbled the kickoff on a squib kick and Colton Mauer recovered.

The Rivermen kneeled to run out the clock to end the first half.

Even without the fumbles, the Cogs were having a hard time containing Hoffman and the Du-Pec passing attack. He completed 10 of 11 passes for 162 yards playing only in the first half like the rest of the Du-Pec starters.

“We get that touchdown [to go up 27-0] at the end of the first half and I’m thinking I like where we’re at,” Du-Pec coach Tyler Hoffman said. “Then Justin Anderson, who just has a nose for the football, grabs that, scoops and scores. Basically puts us up with a running clock going into halftime.”

Du-Pec also picked up 266 yards on the ground and finished with a 470-134 advantage in total yards over the Cogs.

“It was a rough game,” Kleba said. “We came out flat, we couldn’t really do anything on offense and they really gave it to us.”

The Cogs were back in the postseason after missing out last season. Davekos said he was proud of what the team accomplished. Two of their losses came to fellow 5-4 playoff teams Oregon and Stillman Valley by a combined five points.

“The kids battled hard and put in all the effort from the offseason,” Davekos said. “This is a great group of kids, just a couple of plays away. I wouldn’t trade any time with these guys away for the world. They’re a great group of kids and I love them.”