The 2024-25 Herald Cup: No. 5 Geneva
Editor’s note: Now that the 2024-25 high school sports year is over, it’s time to announce the top schools in the Herald Cup standings. We devised a points system based on team state finishes to measure which of the 80-plus high schools from the Daily Herald circulation area had the best athletic year. We’ll announce the top five small schools this week, one per day, with No. 5 today through No. 1 on Friday. The top five large schools will be revealed next week.
If the sport featured green grass and was measured in yards, then Geneva dominated.
The Vikings finished as a state runner-up in football and placed in sixth in the boys golf tournament. That helped them earn 38 points — calculated by weighing team finishes throughout the fall, winter and spring — and grab the fifth-place spot in the 2024-25 Herald Cup standings for small schools.
How they did it
A season-opening shutout of Larkin set the tone for Geneva’s football team as it cruised to eight straight victories. The Vikings scored at least 30 points in all but one of the contests during the span. Despite falling to St. Charles North in the regular-season finale, Geneva earned the No. 3 seed in the Class 6A bracket and continued its high-scoring ways, posting 49, 42, and 49 points across the first three rounds.
Geneva won a nail-biting semifinal against top-seeded Cary-Grove, prevailing 28-26 with help from a pair of 2-point conversion stops. Appearing in its first title game since 2008, Geneva lost 48-28 to East St. Louis.
Boys golf returned all six players from last year’s seventh-place state team and won its second straight Class 3A regional with a score of 302. The Vikings punched their ticket to state with a third-place finish in the sectional at Oswego. Aided by a pair of top-30 individual performances, Geneva finished sixth at state with a score of 621.
Who made it happen
Seniors Joe Pettit and Talyn Taylor were each featured on the IHSFCA’s Class 6A all-state squad.
Pettit, a defensive tackle and offensive guard, was named the DuKane Conference’s outstanding lineman of the year. He is a three-sport athlete, earning two state qualifications in wrestling and holding an offer from Marian University to compete in rugby. He’ll play football at Aurora University.
Taylor is committed to Georgia as a wide receiver. An On3 five-star recruit and the No. 1 player from Illinois in the class of 2025, Taylor compiled 245 all-purpose yards and a touchdown in the title game.
Senior Brandon Burggraf won the individual title in the regional with a 73. Teammate and fellow senior Ryan O’Rourke finished 19th at state with a 150 across two rounds. Junior Matt Trimble finished two strokes behind in 27th place.
Key stats
The Vikings were an offensive juggernaut on the gridiron, averaging 44.4 points per game. The defense was just as strong, conceding 14 or fewer points eight times. Taylor led the squad with 115.5 receiving yards per game and 26 total touchdowns. Taylor, senior running back Michael Rumoro and senior wideout Finnegan Weppner each compiled over 1,000 all-purpose yards.
Quarterback Anthony Chahino threw for 49 touchdowns. He will play at Roosevelt University in Chicago.
Geneva featured five golfers in the top 10 at the regional. Sophomore Blake Makowski and O’Rourke finished in third and fourth place, respectively, while Trimble finished seventh and Ben Clairmont eighth.
Key Fact
The Vikings’ boys golf team has qualified for state eight times, finishing in the top 10 six times. Since 2015, the team has won eight regional titles.
They Said It
“This is everything I dreamed for as a little kid. I grew up in Geneva, I was born in Geneva, and I wanted to be a Viking. There were opportunities for me to leave and go to another school, but I stayed here.” — quarterback Anthony Chahino after making the state title game.
“We’re the lucky ones that keep playing, and we’re going to enjoy it, we’re going to have fun, and we’re going to be loose and do what we do.” — football coach Boone Thorgesen.
“I was pretty confident coming off the tee today. The wedges were pretty dialed in, and the putter felt good.” — Ryan O’Rourke after his second-place finish in the Mark Rolfing Cup, which Geneva won as a team.