Geneva enters playoffs on a roll
Geneva has hopefully learned something.
Hopefully, Vikings coach Rob Wicinski said, the defense is better geared to stop Oak Forest's option in Saturday's Class 6A playoff game than it was months ago at Rock Island.
Week 1 was a long time ago. The 443 rushing yards Rock Island gained in a 42-28 Vikings loss still sticks in Wicinski's craw. Geneva (7-2), a No. 4 seed to the No. 5 seed of Oak Forest (6-3), gets an extra day of preparation to mull over a similar double-slot formation.
“It'll be interesting to see if we've grown, because they pretty much have the same game plan as Rock Island, the same responsibilities,” Wicinski said. “It'll be interesting to see if the kids have gotten any better. It takes a lot of discipline (to defend the option). We didn't have that against Rock Island.”
They'll need it Saturday to keep Tevin Coleman from breaking outside for big gains. Wicinski said Oak Forest's 187-pound junior running back-receiver brings speed he hasn't seen “in a long time.”
The main target, though, is Matt Barry. Innocuous enough at 5-11, 170 pounds a freshman too boot Wicinski said the Bengals' option runs through him. Quarterback Luke Huerta led the Bengals down the stretch, but Geneva is preparing for injured starter, senior Tim Longawa.
Geneva defensive lineman Andrew Mariotti remains questionable with a sprained foot, but regardless, defensive ends Beau George and Drew White and the middle three of Mariotti/Zach Erickson, Rob Harden and Nick Caruso must read their keys.
Offensively, the Vikings are cooking with gas. Running back Connor Quinn ran for 140 yards in last week's 69-27 win over Larkin put him at 1,072 on the year. Fullback Joe Cella averages 6.8 yards per carry and Vikings quarterback Matt Williams is in the enviable position of passing when desired, not required. He has completed 76 of 145 passes for 15 touchdowns, only 4 interceptions.
The offense will go, Wicinski said, as far as linemen Kevin Dwyer, Jake Bastin, James Buban, Brett Willman, Jake Mills and tight end Connor Einck take it.
Both teams are playoff veterans. Geneva, which won the inaugural rendition of the Upstate Eight Conference River Division, has made the postseason seven straight years.
Oak Forest, one of five playoff teams from the South Suburban Blue, joins conference mate Lemont with the smallest enrollment in the 6A field, and Morgan Park with the class' third-longest active playoff streak at 11. Coach Brian McDonough's Bengals reached the 6A semifinals in both 2006 and 2007.
As Wicinski said, playoff football is a matter of luck and preparation.
“We can't control the luck,” he said. “We can control the preparation.”