Razzle dazzle denied as Geneva nips St. Charles North
Little was conventional at Geneva's Burgess Field on Friday night. Why stick with a conventional extra-point attempt?
Following Matt Shiltz's 54-yard quarterback draw for a touchdown that drew St. Charles North within a point of Geneva with three minutes to play, North Stars coach Mark Gould went for the win.
Off a fake extra-point, Shiltz threw into the end zone to Ben Hodges, in the right flat near the front pylon. Geneva cornerback Tyler Ulin was there to break up the pass and the Vikings were able to grind out the clock for a 35-34 Upstate Eight Conference River division victory.
"We had a hard time stopping them, and so we said, let's put pressure on them now," Gould explained.
"Convention is if you go into overtime tied, then you go for 2. But the whole sideline was in agreement - let's do it, let's go for 2. And we thought we had a good play."
As did Ulin.
"By far the biggest play of the game. It sealed the deal and got us the win," said the senior cornerback. "I saw him out of the backfield and I followed him the whole time. I went up for the ball right when he did, and it happened to tip off my fingers."
Geneva coach Rob Wicinski said the Vikings (2-3, 3-0) were prepared for the 2-point try, and Ulin certainly was.
"It's do you want to try to win it for yourself now, on the road," Wicinski said.
"(St. Charles North) was struggling a little bit defensively. I don't know, I'm not in his shoes. I don't think it surprises me, but I'm glad it happened, I guess."
Neither coach wanted a shootout, but nonetheless in a strange way it became one.
Trying to take the air out of the ball, a week after passing 22 times Geneva quarterback Matt Williams threw just 6 passes against St. Charles North (2-3, 1-1). In the first half Geneva owned time of possession 18:05 to the North Stars' 5:55.
"Our offensive line just got a great push the whole night. They all got their guys, knew their assignments, I just behind them and ran," said Geneva tailback Connor Quinn, who ran 29 times for 152 yards behind Kevin Dwyer, Jacob Bastin, James Buban, Brett Willman and Jake Mills.
"We ran off tackle almost all night and then we hit them up with inside gives to our fullback, Joey Cella. We pulled our guards almost every play."
That was the recipe that led an 11 play drive capped by Williams' 3-yard touchdown run and Ben Moore's kick for a 7-0 lead at 2:19 of the first quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, however, Dirk Schmitt returned it 93 yards for a touchdown and Alex Pohl converted the kick to tie it up. It was Schmitt's second return for a touchdown in as many games.
Geneva was back at it, scoring on 12- and 14-play drives in the second quarter only to see the North Stars pull within 21-14 on Shiltz's 53-yard touchdown pass to Josh Mikes with no time left.
"When he gets behind them," Gould said, "he can beat you."
St. Charles North turned the tables in the second half, keeping the Vikings from running an offensive play for the entire third quarter, until 10:30 of the fourth.
St. Charles North tied 21-21 on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Shiltz, who completed 9 of 18 passes for 163 yards.
Like Schmitt, Geneva's Doug Berthold answered with an 86-yard kickoff return for touchdown to send Geneva into the fourth quarter with a 28-21 lead.
Using a 37-yard catch by Oshay Hodges ruled by officials as a "simultaneous catch" with Geneva corner Ryan Landrum, the North Stars tied 28-28 on Ben Hodges 1-yard run to tie 28-28.
Quinn scores his second touchdown of the night on a 1-yard run to cap an 11-play Geneva drive for a 35-28 lead with 5:30 to play.
Then it was back the other way with Shiltz's score to set up the fateful 2-point try.
"We've been playing that way all season pretty much," said Mikes, who caught 4 passes for 100 yards. "We've been putting up a lot of points. I think this is one of our best games both offensively and defensively."