ELGIN – The Geneva football team returned to the win column with a 41-34 win over Larkin at Memorial Field on Friday night.
Larkin’s Damion Clemons did not make it easy for the Vikings, who snapped a two-game losing skid. The senior finished 276 yards of total offense and scored three touchdowns.
Almost all of the first-half scoring happened in the last 127 seconds of a chaotic second quarter.
Geneva (2-2, 1-1 UEC River) got on the board on its first possession of the game. A 4-yard run by T.J.Miller, (167 yards on 28 carries) capped a seven-play, 58-yard drive, putting the Vikings ahead 6-0 at the 8:29 mark of the first quarter.
After that, neither team reached the goal line until the 2:07 mark of the second quarter.
Geneva extended its lead to 13-0 on a 7-yard pass from junior Daniel Santacaterina to senior Kyle Brown.
The Royals (2-2, 1-1) got on the board on their next possession when Kemmerin Blalark connected with Dante Bonds for a 73-yard pass at the 1:26 mark.
The Vikings scored on the ensuing kickoff, which Justin Nebel returned 80 yards for a touchdown.
The frantic stretch continued when the Royals answered with a 90-yard touchdown run by Clemons with 47 seconds left in the half to make the score 20-14.
Clemons scored two touchdowns for the Royals in the third quarter on big plays. The first touchdown was on a 67-yard pass from Kemmerion 15 seconds into the quarter to give Larkin the lead, 21-20.
Geneva took the lead back, 27-21, on its next series when Miller scored his second touchdown, a 7-yard run at the 6:57 mark.
Clemons responded with an 80-yard run. The Royals were only able to tie the game at 27 after missing the extra-point conversion.
The Vikings reclaimed the lead, 35-27, on a 22-yard run by Max Woodworth with 3:52 left in the third quarter.
Geneva widended its lead to 41-27 after a Santacaterina 16-yard pass to Brown at the 5:31 mark in the fourth quarter. The Royals scored their last touchdown when Alex Duran recovered a Geneva fumble and ran 43 yards for the score.
Geneva hosts another 2-2 team, St. Charles North, on Friday in a UEC River matchup.
GENEVA 41 LARKIN 34
LARKIN 0 14 13 7
GENEVA 6 14 14 7
HOW THEY SCORED
First Quarter
G: Miller 4 yd run (kick failed) 8:29
Second Quarter
G: Brown 7 yd pass from Santacaterina (Browere kick) 2:07
L: Bonds 67 yd pass from Blalark (Ramon kick) 1:26
G: Nebel 80 yd kickoff return (Browere kick) 1:12
L: Clemons 90 yd run (Ramon kick) 0:47
Third Quarter
L: Clemons 67 yd pass from Blalark (Ramon kick) 11:48
G: Miller 7 yd run (Browere kick) 6:57
L: Clemons 80 yd run (kick failed) 4:30
G: Woodworth 22 yd run (Browere kick)3:52
Fourth Quarter
G: Brown 16 yd pass from Santacaterina (Browere kick) 5:31
L: Duran 43 yd fumble recovery (Ramon kick) 2:32
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Larkin: Clemons 11-177, Blalark 8-9, Totals: 20-185. Geneva: Miller 28-167, Woodworth 8-117, Nebel 6-26, Santacaterina 4-17, Total 46-327.
PASSING – Larkin: Blalark 9-22-2-183 Geneva: Santacaterina 8-16-2-140
RECEIVING –Larkin: Clemons 5-95, Bonds 1-73, Ramirez 2-6, Hunter 1-5 Totals: 9-183. Geneva: Temple 2-43, Brown 2-22, Landi 3-58, Woodworth 1-17, Total 8-140
TOTAL OFFENSE – Larkin 368 , Geneva 467
SOPHOMORE GAME – Geneva 48 , Larkin 12