With red-hot Geneva, here's 1 rule that has to be broken

Bear with me while I break one of the Ten Commandments of sports writing.

This cardinal sin of the profession ranks somewhere behind Thou Shall Double Check Facts and somewhere before Thou Shall Not Cheer in the Press Box.

Thou shall not lead their story with some lame reference about the weather and how it relates to the game they just saw.

A.k.a., no weather leads.

Surely you can be more original than watching a basketball team shoot 30 percent from the field on a 5-degree January night and come up with "Naperville North was as cold from the floor as the temperature outside in a 50-40 loss to West Aurora."

It's a pet peeve, to say the least. Especially when five different writers all think they are being creative using the same angle.

But I've got to break it. After seeing Geneva defeat Rochelle 24-15 Friday night in a matchup of the top two Western Sun teams, and in front of an crowd at Burgess Field, I've got to break it.

Seven weeks, seven wins. Ranked No. 6 in the state Class 7A poll. Ranked No. 8 in the Daily Herald top 20.

Geneva is on a roll. Unbeaten, and they've already clinched a share of another conference championship with two weeks still to play.

And it came on the most unseasonable of warm October nights. At the time of year when the boosters normally make a small fortune selling hot chocolate, most fans wore shorts or short sleeves.

So, here we go. This amazing Vikings football team is as hot as the…

Or, the record temperatures are about the only thing sizzling more than …

I'm sorry, I …just…can't… do it. Just can't compare red-hot Geneva to these summer-like temperatures.

That's not to say Geneva isn't scorching. Just look at everything clicking, most of which was on display again in a big win over a Rochelle team ranked No. 9 in Class 5A, the toughest opponent Geneva has played to date.

• A dynamite defense. Geneva beat Rochelle at its own game, outgaining the Hubs on the ground 256-194, and making a goal-line stand in the fourth quarter, one of three times Geneva stuffed Rochelle on a fourth-down play.

"Our defense has done a really good job all year giving us a short field," Geneva coach Rob Wicinski said. "That goal-line stand was outstanding. Even though they got the points, I thought that was huge on Rochelle's next drive."

• An offense that can strike quick with Mike Mayszak connecting with Joe Augustine, or sustain a ball-controlled drive behind Michael Ratay.

• Above all, you've got to like the way Geneva plays as a team. Everyone seems to pick each other up.

When the defense gave up an 80-yard touchdown drive on Rochelle's first possession, the offense answered with 2 touchdowns in the second quarter to go ahead at halftime.

After the defense made its goal-line stand, the offense fumbled to set up an easy Rochelle score. But the offense didn't hang its head, driving 40 yards to regain field position and eat up the clock.

When Rochelle had the ball with 2:16 left and a chance to drive for the winning touchdown, one player after another took turns stepping up. Trevor Hyslop made a hit for a 2-yard loss, then Sean Grady tipped away one pass, then Jake Conforti deflected away the next pass.

This time the special teams got in the act, with Grady booting a game-sealing 31-yard field goal.

Everyone is contributing to Geneva's success. All the pieces add up to a 7-0 record -- something that comes as a bit of a surprise to their coach for an inexperienced team entering the year that had graduated almost all its starters.

"I felt every game we played this year we could lose it, and we could win it," Wicinski said. "You just don't know. To be 7-0 is a little bit of a surprise, but the kids play hard and I've got a good crop of coaches. That's a testament to them and their work in the off-season."

You know when you hear Geneva public address announcer Kurt Wehrmeister reference Jerry Auchstetter in relation to your team, something good will follow.

And it did, with the news that Geneva's fourth straight conference championship is the first time they've done that since Auchstetter's teams from 1968-71.

"We set our goals at the beginning of the season and that's one of them," Wicinski said. "The other one is get in the playoffs and go as deep as we can. We're just starting on our goals."

"It's a great tradition we've got going here," Conforti said. "Hopefully we'll keep it up. We've still got unfinished business. We're going 14-0 this year. Seven more."

The first two steps to that are local rivals Kaneland and especially Batavia, who has won 11 of the last 12 meetings against Geneva including two memorable games last year.

Whatever happens, you can't take away another conference championship for Geneva. The streak of four straight is something everyone in Wicinski's program should be extremely proud of, especially when you remember where the Vikings came from at 5-31 in his first four years.

Not anymore. Geneva in contention for a conference title?

That's something you can count on day in and day out come football season. You know, the opposite of Chicagoland weath…

Ah, never mind.