Genoa turns out the lights on Aurora Central
Someone made the mistake of flipping off the light switch at the Genoa-Kingston football stadium Friday night, leaving everyone in the dark after just one quarter of action in the non-conference season opener pitting the host Cogs against Aurora Central Catholic.
When the lights finally came back on after a half-hour delay, it was the Cogs who flipped on just enough of their own power switch to pull away from ACC and capture a 19-0 victory.
An aggressive Genoa-Kingston defensive line led by seniors Austin Bankston and Sean McIntyre wiped out any thought Aurora Central had of notching a victory in new coach Brian Casey's first game.
But Genoa-Kingston head coach Bill McCarty knew his team had encountered an improved Chargers' squad, a team that fell to Genoa 44-0 in last year's opener.
"Our defensive front played very well, but their defensive front played extremely well, too," McCarty acknowledged after Genoa held the Chargers to only 47 yards rushing in the game. "Their kids really came out aggressively defensively and also shut us down."
Neither team could generate any offense in the first quarter, which ended on a 19-yard field goal by Genoa's Chris Camargo for a 3-0 lead before the stadium lights went out.
When action resumed, Genoa quarterback Craig Billington was facing a fourth-and-12 at the ACC 34-yard line and he proceeded to lead a streaking Gabe Williams-Torres perfectly with a touchdown strike to push the Cogs ahead 10-0.
That score held up at the half, as Aurora Central finished with no first downs, minus-1 yard rushing and only 9 total yards.
The Chargers moved the ball through the air in the second half, but had two key drives stall. ACC quarterback Stewart deWaard connected on five of his 10 completions in the game during a 59-yard drive that ended with a fourth-down incompletion in the end zone.
The Chargers' defense was able to create four turnovers, with two interceptions and two fumble recoveries, both of which gave ACC chances with just under 10 minutes left in the game.
But neither drive resulted in points, and Bankson put an exclamation point on the second one by stuffing Charger tailback Zach Tobin on a fourth-and-inches inside Genoa territory.
"My hat is off to our defensive squad, but we have a lot to work on offensively, and we know that," Casey said. "We just couldn't make a big play, and next time we'll make the big plays.
"That's the culture we're trying to establish here, and there were a lot of positive things tonight."
Genoa dashed Aurora Central's hopes with a 9-point fourth quarter. Bankson notched a safety by tackling deWaard in the end zone, and Tobias Canterbury (10 carries, game-high 44 yards) finished off a late drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge.
"We didn't tackle great tonight, but we were physical, and in that regard we played well," Casey said. "I was very pleased with our intensity and the way we got to loose balls, because we've worked hard on that stuff."