Geneva football team gets courthouse send-off

Geneva plans to send its Vikings football team off to the Class 7A state championship with lights-and-sirens hoopla.

The team bus will get a police escort at 10:30 a.m. Saturday from the lawn of the Kane County Courthouse, 100 S. Third St., as it heads to Champaign for the Illinois High School Association state finals. Geneva plays East St. Louis at 4 p.m.

Once fans get to Champaign, they can party before and after the game in Tent City, an area sponsored by the IHSA outside of Memorial Stadium.

The school gets a 40-by-40 heated tent. There will also be an entertainment tent with face-painting, music, interactive games and a live feed of the football games.

There is a tent-decorating contest to earn bragging rights for the team's school spirit. The Geneva High School Sports Boosters club encourage people to bring posters and flags.

You can bring a grill, or buy food there. Boosters are also renting coach buses for the day. They will leave at 10 a.m. Tickets are $40. E-mail club president Pat Hofstetter at info@cprprint.com to request a reservation.

Tickets for the game are $10, and can be ordered through the University of Illinois ticket office at (217) 333-3470, and picked up at the will-call window.

A day earlier, Aurora Christian School fans will root for their team, in the Class 4A playoff at 7 p.m. Friday against Bloomington Central Catholic.

The city of Aurora will welcome the team back with a 12:30 p.m. parade, starting at the West Plaza shopping center on Galena Boulevard and proceeding to the school's Sullivan Road campus.

Game tickets can be bought through today at the school's campuses: 801 W. Illinois Ave. and 2255 W. Sullivan Road, both in Aurora. Tickets can also be bought through the University of Illinois ticket office.