Geneva stuns South Elgin

Ben Moore had never hit a field goal as long as 35 yards in his life, but the Geneva Vikings' senior place-kicker picked the most dramatic time possible Friday night to do just that.

Moore split the uprights from 35 yards out as time expired, lifting Geneva to a scintillating 31-28 comeback victory over South Elgin in an Upstate Eight crossover battle between the conference's division leaders.

The winning field goal sent Geneva players and fans into a wild celebration, with Moore being carried on his teammates' shoulders around the field.

"They called a timeout on him (to try to freeze him), but he split it, he really hit it hard," Geneva coach Rob Wicinski said of Moore's perfect kick. "The coaches said he could kick from the 25-yard line and we'd be pretty sound, but once we start getting beyond that, he might start stretching it and hooking it a little bit, you know, start muscling it.

"But get it to the 25 and he's pretty smooth."

Smooth enough to cap a 25-point second half for Geneva (6-2) in a game that the Vikings trailed 21-6 early in the third quarter.

Moore said his focus, with 1.6 seconds left in the game, was simple.

"Make the field goal, just be in the goal posts, nothing else," Moore said. "No crowd, no nothing; and the only thing coach said was 'just make it.'"

To earn its sixth straight win, Geneva leaned heavily on running back Connor Quinn, who had a game-high 24 carries for 173 yards, one touchdown and a key two-point conversion run.

Wide receiver Russ Acton was a key in the second half, sparking the Geneva comeback by hauling in a 61-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Matt Williams to trim the South Elgin lead to 21-14.

Acton also pulled in a 9-yard scoring pass on a fourth-and-seven play, after Williams rolled out to avoid the Storm's pass rush, to tie the score at 28-28 with 2:43 left in the game.

South Elgin (6-2) fired away at Geneva with a two-headed monster with running backs Bradley Birchfield (23 carries, 150 yards) and Adolfo Pacheco (13 carries, 113 yards).

Geneva led 6-0 after the first quarter when Williams (9 of 16, 142 yards) found Tyler Hickey open in the corner of the end zone from 14 yards out, but Moore's extra point attempt went wide.

Birchfield countered with a 5-yard scoring run, and South Elgin quarterback John Menken went to his passing game to lift the Storm to a 21-6 lead when he lofted a 41-yard strike to Domico Failla for a score. Menken followed that up early in the third quarter with a 5-yard bullet to Pacheco after a wild scramble to avoid the pass rush.

After Acton's 61-yard score, South Elgin quickly answered when a 49-yard pass from Menken to Ken Lowden set up Menken's 1-yard TD plunge with 3:43 left in the third quarter. It was the last time the Storm would score.

Geneva took over from there, scoring less than a minute later when Quinn broke loose for a 52-yard run that set up his own 2-yard scoring burst that made the score 28-21 with 2:26 left in the third.

South Elgin had a touchdown called back on a holding penalty, and then settled for a David Reisner 27-yard field goal attempt that went wide left.

The Vikings then mounted a six-minute, 80-yard scoring drive, capped by Acton's 9-yard touchdown reception, but fueled by Quinn's power running and a key 23-yard screen pass reception.

"At a time like that, you really come together as a team, and our offensive line carried us through the whole game," Quinn said.

Quinn had some heroics on the defensive side of the ball when he sacked Menken for a 1-yard loss, then batted down a third-down pass attempt that forced a short punt by the Storm and set the stage for Moore's heroic boot. "It was a great job on defense, and then they shanked the kick and I got the ball at the 50-yard line with 1:14 left and two timeouts," Wicinski said. "That was plenty of time."

And it was Quinn once again powering for 30 yards on four carries to get Moore close enough for his game-winner.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for South Elgin, which gained 467 total yards, but couldn't stop Geneva's key fourth-quarter drives.

"The kids really tried and gave a good effort, and it's too bad it ended up like this for them because they deserved a better ending," South Elgin coach Dale Schabert said.

"There were a lot of things that happened during the game that we had no control over and had to overcome," Schabert said, referring to the 95 yards in penalties his team was assessed. "But it still came down to the last second of the game. We'll bounce back and beat Waubonsie Valley and go on to the playoffs."

For Wicinski, it was the perfect tuneup for his team as it prepares for the final week and then the playoffs.

"It was the first time seeing them and it was like a playoff game," Wicinski said. "It was tough going (trying to stop South Elgin), and they really came off the ball and they really took it to us with the running game."