Two tight just right for Geneva

A little smile came to Rob Wicinski's face when asked about any adjustments Geneva made Friday after it surprisingly came to the locker room on the short end of a 17-14 halftime score against 0-2 St. Charles East.

“Some coach mentioned double tight and the line got all jacked up so I was pleased to see that,” Wicinski said.

For all the fun of pass-happy offensive attacks, and Wicinski has his own talent back at quarterback in NIU-bound Matt Williams, there's something about lining up and running the ball down your opponent's throat that feels pretty darn satisfying.

Throw in some rain and a slippery field and it's even better.

That's just what Geneva got in the second half and did the Vikings ever dominate, outscoring the Saints 21-0 for a 35-17 victory.

The move to a two tight end offense to go with linemen Jacob Bastin, Bobby Byker, Kevin Carlson, Jake Mills and Connor Chapman paved the way to a staggering 234-18 advantage on the ground in the second half after the Saints had actually outrushed Geneva 127-123 in the first half.

“We just stuck to our game plan, fought hard and had a great second half,” said tailback Parker Woodworth, who followed up his player of the week honors with 3 touchdowns.

Wicinski certainly can bring the fire to a halftime speech, but none of that was needed Friday.

“There was no ranting or raving,” Wicinski said. “We were like, let's get down to business, do your job, do what you are trained to do. Go show off what you have been taught.”

“He told us not to worry, we've been here before and we're a second-half team,” Mills said. “He just wanted us to relax and not get frustrated and get back to work.”

With the first Upstate Eight River games in the books, we're one week closer to the Sept. 30 Batavia-Geneva battle. Among 100 other storylines, the contrast between Geneva's smashmouth style Friday and Batavia's wide-open five-wide attack could be something to see — though the Bulldogs certainly have muscle up front on their defensive line and Geneva can air it out too.

But you know these offensive lineman love a second half like Friday.

“I was very happy with our play-calling, how the backs ran, how we fought for each other,” Mills said.

jlemon@dailyherald.com