Oswego survives Geneva 44-42 despite 4 more TDs from Illinois-commit Konkey

Geneva’s comeback attempt in Friday’s nonconference contest with Oswego at Burgess Field literally ran out of time.

The Vikings pulled within 44-42 with 2:40 left to play on Illinois commit Bennett Konkey’s fourth touchdown of the night — a leaping grab of a Ben Peterson pass just inside the end zone.

Geneva (1-1) was unable to recover the ensuing onside kick but forced a three-and-out. Geneva let the clock run down to five seconds to call a time before Oswego’s’ punt.

The clock restarted with Dustin King’s midfield boot. Geneva’s Tate Beran caught the ball near the 20-yard hash mark but was unable to run out of bounds before time expired.

“What a tremendous high school football game that was, back and forth and back and forth,” Geneva coach Boone Thorgesen said. “It was two great football teams battling and unfortunately they made a couple plays at the end. I was proud of our team and proud of our fight.”

The loss was the second in row for Geneva to Oswego (2-0), 2025’s Class 8A runner-up. Last year the Panthers prevailed 35-6 over the Vikings.

Offense dominated in the contest. Geneva rolled up 466 yards and crossed the goal line on six of 10 possessions. Oswego finished seven of its 11 drives by scoring points and gained 483 yards.

In addition to Konkey’s four TDs, the senior caught 11 Peterson passes for 264 yards. Peterson, an Eastern Michigan signee, finished the night completing 18 of 28 passes for 264 yards.

Senior Ryan Wynn was the Panthers’ answer to Konkey. Three of the South Dakota State commit’s six receptions of teammate Drew Kleinhans’ passes ended in the end zone. Wynn gained a total of 149 yards. Kleinhans completed 12 of 19 pass for 236 yards.

Oswego avoided sending the ball near the speedy Konkey on kickoffs to avoid his repeat of last week’s scoring on a return.

But Geneva did score again its first play from scrimmage. Peterson’s first pass of the night was a shot to Luke Ignoffo over the middle The junior grabbed the ball and raced 72 yards for the TD.

“Second game in a row where we scored on the first play,” Thorgesen said. “I don’t know if it’s a thing that’s going to keep going, but it was a lot of fun.”

The initial touchdown was the Vikings’ only lead of the game. Oswego tied the contest on its ensuing drive and pulled ahead in the second quarter for a 21-13 lead.