Quinn, Geneva earn Batavia's respect
Count Batavia coach Mike Gaspari as a Connor Quinn fan.
Gaspari already had a high opinion of Quinn after scouting Geneva in Week 2 at Morgan Park. It only elevated after Quinn bashed Batavia for 136 yards and 2 touchdowns on 31 carries in Geneva's 40-21 victory Friday.
Quinn also plays linebacker, although Geneva has been allowing him to spend more time just playing offense lately.
"I knew Connor Quinn was a really good football player, a hard-nosed football player, you have to be to play tailback in their offense," Gaspari said. "And then to play defense as well, that says a lot about a kid."
Even after graduating a lot of its muscle and starting smaller players on both sides of the line, Geneva coach Rob Wicinski has kept the program's run-first identity while taking control of the Upstate Eight Conference River Division with a 4-0 record.
"It's what the kids do throughout the program," Wicinski said. "We try to take advantage of some of the (skill position) kids we have but we are what we are. The kids believe in it, they have had success in it. It doesn't matter how big their butts are."
Marmion's muscle: If there were any doubts about Marmion, they are clearly being diminished along the offensive and defensive fronts.
The Cadets are 6-0 mainly because of the flexibility and power their defensive front has shown, and the workmanlike fashion in which their offensive line has been moving opponents away from Marmion runners.
Against Aurora Christian, the Cadets often dropped eight defenders back into coverage against the cannon arm of Eagles' quarterback Anthony Maddie.
That left a big load on down linemen Ryan Glasgow, Mike Eberth and Blake Mickey and they flushed Maddie out of the pocket often. Once they had imposed their will on the Eagles offensive line, Cadet linebackers like Nick Scoliere and T.J Lally began a series of cleverly designed blitzes to wreak even more havoc.
On the offensive front, Graham Glasow, Jake Winkel, Tyler Heinen, Tyler Boyd and Mike Zolfo left no doubt as to who was going to control things in Marmion's 42-20 victory.
Dave Heun