Geneva completes perfect Upstate Eight season

After an 0-2 start to the season in nonconference action, the last thing on the minds of anyone affiliated with Geneva football was for the Vikings to go undefeated in their first Upstate Eight season.

Scratch that thought.

Geneva (7-2, 6-0) completed its maiden voyage in the Upstate Eight on Friday night without a blemish by dropping a nuclear bomb on visiting Larkin in a 69-27 rout.

With an experienced offensive line, quarterback and receivers graduating last year, no one associated with Geneva football was thinking about an offense resembling a Sherman tank this year.

Scratch that thought.

The 69 points the Vikings dropped on the Royals was most likely a school record, and it capped a season in which high-scoring games were the norm.

"We've had some pretty good teams here, but I could count on half a hand how many times we've had an undefeated conference season," Geneva coach Rob Wicinski said after his squad put an exclamation point on its seventh straight conference title, covering three different conferences in that time frame.

"We were not in that mindset at all (of being able to go undefeated in the Upstate Eight), and we were planning on grinding it out all year," Wicinski said.

Another thing that Wicinski and his team may not have been thinking about was how bizarre Friday's game would become - but the first touchdown of the night sent plenty of messages about what was in store.

Larkin (3-6, 2-4) was unable to get a first down on the game's opening possession from the 20-yard-line and when Kyle Newquist shanked the punt, the ball took a crazy hop back toward the Geneva end zone.

Geneva's Matt Malecha scooped up the ball at the Geneva 8-yard line and waltzed into the end zone with no other player near him.

"I've never seen that before, and it was very strange," Malecha said. "They came out in trips (three wideouts to one side) and I was out to cover a guy and we all ran to one side of the field after the kick, but no one was by the ball, and one of my coaches yelled to pick it up, so I did and ran it in for a touchdown."

After that, it became the Connor Quinn show once again for Geneva as the Viking tailback went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season while piling up 142 yards in 14 carries and scoring three touchdowns on the ground with runs of 4, 33 and 3 yards, and also pulled in a short pass in the flat and romped 63 yards for a fourth touchdown. Three of Quinn's four TDs came in the second quarter, and all of his stats were compiled in the first half.

The second quarter saw 48 points tallied, with Larkin scoring three times on a 13-yard touchdown reception by Trevor Whitehead, a Brent Cooks 69-yard run, and a 70-yard fumble recovery scamper by Justin Banks. Banks made that wild run with just 10.4 seconds left before the half, but it was enough time for Geneva to answer. After an onside kick went out of bounds, and Geneva had the ball at the 38-yard line, quarterback Matt Williams found a leaping Ben Rogers in the end zone on the next play for a touchdown as time expired.

"When we got good field position, the coach switched the call, and it was just a heck of a call by coach Wicinski," Williams said of the touchdown toss.

It built Geneva's lead to 41-20 at the half, and it didn't take long for the Vikings to continue the onslaught and initiate a running clock because of a 40-point lead.

Joe Cella broke through for an 18-yard touchdown, Tom Frederick picked up a fumble and went 24 yards for a score, Dylan Nobregas took off on a 19-yard scoring run, and backup Brian Favis finished things off with a 5-yard touchdown run.

Geneva now awaits its first playoff game next weekend, and Wicinski is hoping his team can continue to surprise.

"I liked it (being 0-2 to start the season) because we were under the radar and no one was thinking about us," Wicinski said. "But we looked good on tape, so I knew we'd be good."

Larkin's Miguel Villafane, who came in for the injured Newquist late in the first half, scored the Royals' final TD in the final minute of the game with a 1-yard plunge.

An emotional Larkin coach Mike Scianna emphasized what a rough road his team faced this year.

"We've got some good kids and they have a lot of heart," Scianna said after hugging all of his players as they left the field. "They missed the bus somewhere down the road and didn't hit the weightroom hard enough to compete against the good teams, but we have some great athletes here.

"This is my first year as a coach and I just love these kids and it is very hard (for season to end)," Scianna added. "We had an uphill battle all year long, but this group came together and played hard for each other."