Senior linebacker Sean Lane wasn’t about to complain for Geneva. Not at all.
Lane and the rest of the defense didn’t have their collective number called for the Vikings until nearly halfway through the first quarter Saturday afternoon in scenic Lake Forest.
There was something special going on.
“The special teams, honestly, I felt are what won it for us,” said Lane, who entered the game with a team-leading 71 tackles. “That, and turnovers, really did a great job of changing the momentum.”
Geneva and assistant coach Russ Lorenz, a special teams mastermind, came to play as the Vikings executed back-to-back onside kicks after the offense quickly scored on the opening drive.
It shouldn’t have surprised the Scouts but definitely left them shocked, staring at a 21-0 deficit before their first possession as Geneva rolled to a 49-14 win in a Class 6A state quarterfinal.
The Vikings (11-1), who advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2008, will play next weekend at Cary-Grove (12-0), a 42-7 winner over Belvidere North.
But about those pooch kicks?
“It’s something we saw on film and our kickoff coach does a great job in finding a weakness,” Geneva coach Boone Thorgesen said. “The first one we executed to perfection, and the second, we just got lucky a little bit when their guy couldn’t come up with the ball.”
Senior kicker Jayden Hodgdon executed both plays, with sophomore linebacker Nelson Wendell recovering the first and junior cornerback Ryan Davis recovering the second.
“Football is always a game of momentum, and that was huge,” Thorgesen said. “We were just trying to pitch it over the front line and run down there and see if we could get it or pin them deep.
“We got the first one, and that was enormous when we went down and capitalized.”
The offense scored on both extra possessions for the Vikings.
On third down of Lake Forest’s first drive, Wendell forced a fumble with a big hit and senior linebacker Gavin Burt recovered, starting a parade of five turnovers featuring four interceptions.
Burt, a Marmion transfer and third on the team with 56 tackles, scored his first touchdown of the season on a 4-yard screen pass, two minutes after sophomore receiver Bennett Konkey opened the scoring with a 38-yard TD catch from senior quarterback Tony Chahino.
Chahino ended up throwing for four TDs and running for two.
“We’ve been practicing it and finally ran it,” Burt said of his TD. “I was on the wing, motioned left and was supposed to fake block somebody, but he wasn’t there so I just caught it and ran in.”
Geneva executed its first onside kick of the season the previous week in the third quarter, keying a 42-28 win over Burlington Central.
“We talked all week,” Thorgesen said. “Good teams that advance in the playoffs play good, complementary football. This was the best game of the year playing complementary football.
“Our defense was lights out.”
Lane said the defense draws motivation from being overshadowed by the offense and doubted.
“We like to rally to the ball, and that helped us,” he said.
Junior defensive back Dylan Reyes, junior safety Dane Turner, junior defensive back Mason Steurer and senior linebacker Troy Velez each contributed an interception.
Velez, who is second on the team with 65 tackles, was whistled for an unsportsmanlike penalty that keyed Lake Forest’s lone TD in the first half and heard from defensive coordinator Tim Wolf.
“I got a little too excited,” Velez said sheepishly. “The game caught me and took my emotions over. (Wolf) took his sunglasses off, looked me in the eye, told me not to be in my head and play smart.”
Lesson learned with a rematch against Cary-Grove, which beat Geneva 41-7 in the quarterfinals.
“We’re excited to get back and try to get revenge on them for what they did last year,” Lane said. “It feels good to be part of the senior class when this is happening.”
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