Geneva 43, DeKalb 14

It's good to be the king.

It's even better to be a VI-king.

Geneva took care of business in a big way on Friday night defeating DeKalb, 43-14.

The Vikings blew away the Barbs, jumping to a 43-0 halftime lead. With Rochelle losing 9-7 to Sycamore, Geneva is now alone atop of the Western Sun Conference with Rochelle heading to Geneva next Friday.

"We came out and did what we needed to do," said Geneva defensive back Jake Conforti. "The defense was ready and we came out strong."

Geneva (6-0, 4-0) wasted little time in setting the tone for what proved to be an all-Vikings evening.

Before even two minutes had trickled off the clock, Michael Ratay had found the end zone on a 5-yard run. After a two-point conversion run by quarterback Michael Mayszak the Vikings led 8-0.

It was only the start for the Geneva offense. It did take the Vikings its fourth possession before they'd find the end zone again as Mayszak linked up with Joe Augustine for a 9-yard touchdown pass to make it 15-0 with 1:33 remaining in the opening quarter.

The lead was comfortable but it got a whole lot more comfortable soon after that.

Mayszak kept his good ties with Augustine going on the Vikings next possession as the duo connected for an 8-yard touchdown early in the second quarter to make it 22-0.

"He's been very consistent," Geneva coach Rob Wicinski said. "He makes good reads and he's very confident and has a good head on his shoulders."

Then, after Conforti snagged his third interception of the season and ran for 58 yards before getting dragged down at the 2-yard line, Ratay jetted himself into the end zone to make it 29-0.

"We just go out there and do what we can do," Conforti said. "We were ready to play and we just try to make good plays."

The good plays continued before halftime when Mayszak did the last of his evening's duties when he threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Boser with only 1:24 remaining in the half to make it a 43-0.

"I was really pleased with how we played in the first half," Wicinski said. "The defense has gotten us turnovers and although we haven't taken advantage of those as much as we can, we did tonight."

While the offense did its job, so did the defense, intercepting three passes, blocking a punt and recovering a fumble.

"We had intense practices and got back to the basics," Wicinski said. "We thought if we could get on top in the first quarter we'd be all right and it showed."

The Vikings were able to take it easy, at least giving a break to most of the starters, in the second half as a running clock kept the game moving and gave plenty of Vikings, who normally don't see a lot of action, an opportunity to play.

Now, we'll see if it's still good to be king when the Vikings host Rochelle next Friday.