No fancy formula here - it all starts with defense

When the team's top tailback has scored 41 rushing touchdowns - just 5 away from setting a new IHSA single-season record - and you average nearly 40 points per game, your offense is likely going to attract plenty of attention from the opposition.

That has certainly been the case this season for Geneva, led by standout senior running back Michael Ratay.

But more often than not, the unbeaten Vikings have relied on their stingy, ball-hawking defense throughout the 2008 campaign while establishing a new school standard for victories (12).

It's one of the main reasons why Geneva is still playing football less than a week away from Thanksgiving, preparing to play host to Crystal Lake South (10-2) in Class 7A state semifinal action at 7 p.m. Friday.

During last Saturday's 35-21 quarterfinal triumph over Carmel, however, the Vikings' first-team defense allowed as many points as it had all season.

"At one point, I did tell the offense, 'This is our turn now because the defense has been bailing us out all year,'" said Geneva coach Rob Wicinski. "They're our backbone."

It was a shinbone that turned into a concern during the Vikings' seventh defensive play from scrimmage last weekend.

"I took a helmet to my (right) shin and it tightened up," said middle linebacker Brennan Quinn.

Fortunately for the Vikings, Quinn's injury was minor as the 6-2, 260-pound senior returned to the lineup later on the same drive and went on to record 8 tackles, including 2 for losses.

"He's been a middle linebacker for us three years now," said Wicinski. "He's got an ungodly number of tackles during that time. I don't know how many - probably over 300 tackles."

Quinn's return shouldn't have come as a surprise to observers.

It didn't surprise his head coach one bit.

"Brennan has not missed a game from his sophomore year on in the middle," said Wicinski, "and that's every day, every game.

"He gets beat up, he gets chipped up. He's definitely an old-school type of kid."

Old school, new school, high school - the Vikings' defense has looked downright dominating at times this season.

While Geneva has allowed 145 points (12-point average) this year, many of those touchdowns have been scored when the outcome was no longer in doubt.

Defensive coordinator Frank Martin's unit has allowed 7 or fewer points in 7 of their 12 games.

Ask Martin and he'll tell you there is no secret formula to his group's success.

"I think our front seven play well together," said the eighth-year assistant of starting linemen Cory Hofstetter, Andrew Clausen, Trey Hemming, Rich MacDonald (replaced junior Frank Boenzi who went out with mono as the playoffs began), and linebackers Quinn, Bret Shannon and Trevor Hyslop.

"They understand what each other are going to do on a given play - reading blocks with the linebackers flowing.

"We've got a lot of experience with our front seven and our secondary (cornerbacks Philip Birschbach, Alex Olenek, safeties Sean Grady and Michael Santacaterina) is coming along. The way we play, we put a lot of pressure on those guys and they've stepped it up for the year."

Hofstetter, a 6-4, 245-pound senior defensive end who has hit some prodigious home runs on the baseball diamond during the spring, and Quinn are both third-year varsity starters for the Vikings, who not so coincidentally have compiled an impressive 34-3 record during that time.

"I think this was like their 36th (actually 37th) game starting on the varsity," said Martin after last weekend's win. "That's huge. They show the guys the ropes and everybody understands their roles."

Hofstetter, who admitted "it wasn't our best defensive game of the year" last weekend, has confidence in his teammates as well as the game plan implemented.

"We've got a lot of great players on our team," he said. "We've got a lot of leaders.

"If everybody on our defense does their assignments, there's no way an offense can beat us. We come out to play every single play, every single practice, every single game. We all know our assignments and do our assignments - that's what makes us a good defense."

Quinn put it in even simpler terms.

"We've really been trying to shut down the run and make teams pass," he said. "Our team motto is first downs, not touchdowns."

A stout defense can do a lot of things for a team, including creating field position and even dictating play calling.

"It really changes up your 2nd-and-8 call," said Wicinski. "You can go ahead and run it and get a 3rd-and-short instead of a 3rd-and-long."

Martin couldn't be happier with his defense.

"It's an excellent group to work with, very coachable," he said. "They listen and they know when to work but they also have fun on the practice field. That helps when you're in Week 13 now.

"This is a blast. We're coming back Friday night and hopefully we've got another week after that."

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