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GENOA – The Genoa-Kingston football team controlled every phase of the game in the Cogs’ season-opening win against the Winnebago Indians on Friday.
Leading the charge for the Cogs was senior Nolan Perry. Perry impacted all three phases of the game as the Cogs cruised to a 35-20 Big Northern Conference victory.
“It feels amazing coming out here and doing what I do,” Perry said. “I feel unstoppable when that happens. I know I gotta keep working to help our team win as many games as we can.”
The Cogs broke the game open in the second quarter, scoring 28 points to put the game out of reach.
“First win of the season off of our backs, It feels great,” Cogs coach Cameron Davekos said. “The kids played really hard, and I couldn’t ask for more from them.”
Perry opened the second-quarter scoring on a 75-yard punt return touchdown with less than two minutes gone in the quarter. Perry broke through three tackles in the middle of the field and then sped down the left sideline, outracing three defenders to the end zone. The score put the Cogs up 14-0.
On the next possession, the Indians fumbled a snap on fourth down, which set the Cogs up with a first-and-goal from the 6-yard line.
On the next play from scrimmage, Maddox Lavender pushed his way into the end zone behind his offensive line. It was the second touchdown of the game for Lavender. He scored in the first quarter, bursting across the goal line from 4 yards out. He set up his short run with a 13-yard rush, breaking tackles at the line of scrimmage to get out in the open field.
With Cogs (1-0, 1-0 BNC) already up 21-0, the Indians (0-1, 0-1) again coughed up the ball deep in their own territory, and Perry made them pay on the next play.
Perry rolled out right and lofted the ball into the back corner of the end zone to Brody Engel for a touchdown and a 28-0 lead.
Perry finished the scoring on the next drive after another mishandled snap on a punt by the Indians. Set up with first and goal from the 3-yard line, Perry pushed his way across the goal line to put the Cogs up 35-0 at the half.
The Cogs’ defense smothered the Indians in the first half behind Perry from his linebacker position, who had two tackles for a loss and a quarterback pressure in the first half.
With the Indians driving late in the second quarter deep in Cogs’ territory, Perry stuffed a runner behind the line, and two plays later Connor Grimm came up with a big sack to end the drive. Grimm had two sacks in the game and was in the backfield for most of the game.
“It felt nice,” Grimm said. “It’s our first game back on the football field, so it’s nice to make those plays.”
The Indians came back in the second half and got some luck to rattle off 20 unanswered points. On the second drive of the third quarter, they were facing third-and-12 from the Cogs’ 25-yard line when quarterback Alec Weavel avoided a sack and threw on the run into the end zone. The ball hit off the hands of a Cogs defender and landed in the arms of tight end Will Speltz for their first touchdown of the game.
“We just played cleaner football (in the second half), and that’s something that we stressed coming into this game,” Winnebago coach Mark Helm said. “I was disappointed in the first half and how we handled it.”
The Indians got another score on a fluke play in the fourth quarter. Running back Supreme Muhammed broke through Cog tacklers and rumbled 20 yards downfield but had the ball knocked loose. Center Kendrick Meador was following the play downfield and scooped up the ball and ran 20 yards into the end zone for the Indians’ final score of the game.