Connor Grimm, Genoa-Kingston defense grind out 16-8 win in 3A opener against Elmwood-Brimfield

GENOA — Elmwood-Brimfield was having success on fourth down against Genoa-Kingston in the teams’ playoff opener on Saturday, converting four of their first five chances.

But the Cogs defense got two key fourth-down stops late in the game to preserve a 16-8 win against the Trojans and advanced to the Class 3A second round, where they will face Princeton.

“We told our kids to dig deep and watch out for that all week,” Genoa-Kingston coach Cam Davekos said. “They trusted the process and got the job done.”

[ Photos: Genoa-Kingston hosts Elmwood in first round football playoff game ]

Neither team scored in the second half. The Trojans (6-4) put together methodical drives all game at their best, and between the third and fourth quarters had a 19-play drive that got as close as the G-K 21-yard line. They actually had a 22-yard gain into the red zone called back due to a hold, and in all were called for a pair of holds in the fourth quarter.

“Honestly I thought we could give them everything they could handle,” E-B coach Todd Hollis said. “We could move the ball and I’m sure they were surprised by that. We had a couple of big plays but then there was a penalty. That was kind of a killer. We’re not designed necessarily to go bust a big one off. We’re designed to go grind and grind and grind. That’s what we did. It’s not a pretty offense to run but when you have a bunch of kids who buy into it, it sure is effective.”

The drive ended up stalling out after G-K’s Max Lavender dropped Bo Windish for a loss on a sweep, giving the Cogs the ball back with 9 minutes left. They held on to the ball for about 3 minutes when Junior Leon boomed a 52-yard punt, pinning the Trojans back at the 8.

But Elmwood-Brimfield set off on another methodical drive, this one going 16 plays. On second-and-8 from the Cogs’ 38, Connor Grimm leveled Layne Durst, who finished with 56 yards on 22 carries. The third-down play only gained a yard and the Cogs got pressure on Oliver Heinz on fourth down, forcing the turnover on downs and allowing them to run out the clock.

“It feels great,” Grimm said. “We knew coming into this game it was going to be a really hard one. We knew it was going to be a battle from the start. We knew we had to come in hard. It feels great and now we have to move on next week and play even harder.”

G-K finished with 222 rushing yards on 50 attempts. Brody Engel had a team-best 65 yards on 12 carries, and was one of four backs with at least 47 yards. The Trojans ran for 216 yards but averaged just 3.4 yards per carry. Slone Windish led them with a game-high 86 yards on 20 carries.

“To be honest, and coach Hollis kind of alluded to it, this was the best game they played all season,” Davekos said. “This was not our best game. We’re going to watch film, tweak some things and find out where we can get better.”

The Trojans started the game with a methodical 18-play, 80-yard drive that drained 5:34 off the clock. Every play was a run until the last, a 17-yard scoring pass from Heinz to Jimmy Babcock on fourth-and-4. It was the only play of the drive that netted more than 6 yards.

The Cogs answered back with a 5-plus minute drive of their own, picking up a third-and-12 on an 18-yard by Brody Engel. Two plays later, Lavender was in from 3 yards out to tie things up at 8-8.

“It was one of the best games our program has ever played,” Hollis said. “That was a team coming off a win against a heck of a team, Stillman Valley, winners of their conference and undefeated. In our area there were predictions not giving us a chance. But we played a great football game.”

The Cogs forced a three-and-out on the next drive, with Connor Grimm blocking the punt attempt to set the offense up at the E-B 15. But Leon missed the 32-yard field goal. Elmwood-Brimfield fumbled on its next drive, and this time to Cogs took advantage.

Quarterback Nathan Kleba fumbled the snap but Engel was there to scoop it up and score from the 1.

After another three-and-out by the Trojans, Genoa-Kingston had a chance to score late in the half. The Cogs were at the 1 on a third-and-goal with the clock running under 15 seconds. They didn’t call the timeout, rushed on a play and were hit for a loss.

Then they called the timeout on fourth-and-goal from the 4, but the snap on the field goal attempt was low and blocked. E-B seemed headed toward a sure touchdown, but an inadvertent whistle sounded ending the play.

“They saw the kicker went down, the guy just made a mistake and blew the whistle,” Hollis said. “That’s maybe the difference in the game. It’s a huge momentum swing for sure. But we tell the guys at the beginning of the year three groups show up to participate in a football game and you can only take care of the one on your sideline. We made our share of mistakes and blue made their mistakes. The officials made a mistake, and that’s what it was. We still had some chances to score and we didn’t.”