Learning first hand Vikes can hit

Just reading the coverage and making all my check downs...

• I'm here to tell you the Geneva defense can hit.

I don't need Saints coach Ted Monken to tell me they can hit, even though he did after the Vikings' eye-opening 34-7 win.

I don't need St. Charles East running back Wes Allen or QB Tim Russell to tell me Geneva can hit, even though they felt it for four quarters.

I felt it for one play, and I have a feeling I'll still be feeling it Saturday morning, next Saturday morning, and if Geneva and St. Charles East meet again in the Class 7A playoffs two months from now.

While standing on the Saints sideline in the fourth quarter and thinking the best way to write about how much pain this fearsome Geneva defense can deliver, Vikings linebacker Trevor Hyslop gave me a firsthand lesson. He delivered another hard-hitting tackle out of bounds, and for the first time in my 13 years of covering high school football, I couldn't quite get out of the way fast enough.

At least I think it was Hyslop, because all I remember is going down, my head hitting the Geneva track and "oohs" from the Saints crowd.

So if you've been reading this column for awhile and think it seems like the writer must have brain damage, well, this morning you might be correct.

But who say sports writers can't play with pain? I'm here to gut it out, suck it up like the coaches say.

And to tell you the Geneva defense can hit.

• Vikings 34, Saints 7. Wow.

I didn't see that coming. If I could have guaranteed one thing, it was this would be closer than the Vikings' 35-14 win in last year's 7A playoffs.

Wrong.

"They have a heck of a team," Monken said. "Their D-line and linebackers as a group, one of the best I've ever seen in high school."

Geneva sits at No. 4 in the Class 7A state rankings.

Time to move them up.

• The Saints aren't that far behind, certainly not 27 points behind.

Every game has one or two game-changing plays. Friday's had way more than usual, and Geneva made all of them.

"We had a 26-point swing in the first 15 minutes of the game," Monken said.

• Geneva defensive coordinator Frank Martin has been waiting 7 years for his unit to score a touchdown. Sean Grady did it twice in one night, electrifying the crowd with 77- and 100-yard returns.

"One of our goals this year was to score on defense," Martin said. "I'm just thrilled for him, thrilled for the team. East is a good team, and we might see them again."

"I thought for sure I'd get caught the second time," smiled Grady.

• I'd like to end by clearing up what I wrote in this space last week.

By no means did I mean to infer Batavia does not want to play St. Charles East in the future. For years Bulldogs coach and athletic director Mike Gaspari has been pushing for the Tri-Cities schools to play each other.

But Batavia also has a long-standing relationship with West Chicago for its Week 2 game. So next year when the Bulldogs open with St. Charles North, then play West Chicago in Week 2, it doesn't leave room to continue playing St. Charles East.

Th Bulldogs are hoping St. Charles East will be back on the schedule after the 2-year series with the North Stars.

Also, there was a misunderstanding involving the Bulldogs flag before the game. Gaspari said his players did not plant it at midfield. They never took it past their 45-yard line, as is their tradition, in warmups.

jlemon@dailyherald.com