July 23, 2025
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Geneva defensive back Dylan Reyes ready to shake off any doubts about new team in 2025

By Joel Boenitz
Geneva’s Dylan Reyes readies for a catch during a 7 on 7 tournament on Thursday, July 10, 2025 at Batavia High School.

Geneva’s Dylan Reyes readies for a catch during a 7 on 7 tournament in July 2025 at Batavia High School. (Sandy Bressner)

Dylan Reyes knows plenty about the outside noise surrounding Geneva heading into the 2025 season.

The Vikings, after all, graduated eight offensive starters from the team that made it all the way to the Class 6A state title game a season ago.

But is Reyes, a defensive back, worried about the doubts circling the team entering his senior season?

Simply put – no.

“I think a lot of people are stuck in the past and not taking us seriously since we lost a lot of key players from last year,” Reyes said. “But we aren’t. We’ve been practicing really well and we know we have a lot of talent. It’s just up to us to come together as a collective and just believe in ourselves.”

Reyes was one of the driving forces in the Vikings’ backfield last season and is set to do so again with a more experienced defense heading into this season.

It’s quite a difference from last season, when the Vikings were well known for their offensive prowess led by wide receiver Talyn Taylor, who’s currently preparing for his freshman season at Georgia.

Geneva coach Boone Thorgesen is not worried about the defense stepping up early in the season to let the offense find its footing.

“To win football games, you’ve got to have a great defense,” Thorgesen said. “We’re going to rely on them. We’ve got to replace a lot of guys on offense. Defense is going to be a big strength for us early on. It feels good to know that we have some guys who’ve played a lot of football for us on that side that we can count on defensively, even if our offense is struggling.”

Burlington Central's Caden West is tackled by Geneva's Dane Turner (2) and Dylan Reyes (5) at the Class 6A second-round playoff game in November in Geneva.

Burlington Central's Caden West is tackled by Geneva's Dane Turner (2) and Dylan Reyes (5) at the Class 6A second-round playoff game in November in Geneva. (Karen Naess for Shaw Local News Network)

Reyes is coming off his best defensive season. An all-DuKane Conference selection, he finished with 50 tackles and added five interceptions across 14 games, including one in the state title game against East St. Louis.

Reyes also comes into his final season with the most varsity experience on the roster with 36 games under his belt across three seasons heading into this season. And after spending those years waiting for his chance, Reyes is more than ready to step into the leadership role.

“It’s really just him taking that next step as now being the senior leader and it’s been great to see,” Thorgesen said. “He’s so diverse in his skill set. He can play safety and corner, so it’s always nice to have a kid in the back end that you can rely on to get somebody down if they break through that first level of defense.”

Reyes isn’t the only key returner in the backfield for the Vikings. There’s fellow senior defensive back Dane Turner, who also was an all-conference selection after collecting five interceptions on the season while recording 71 tackles and two tackles for loss.

With plenty of receiving talent in the DuKane Conference this season, Reyes is more than happy to have reliable players such as Turner and junior Tate Beran with him on defense.

“The DB position is kind of the most highlighted position on the defense because you make one mistake and [it’s] a big play on the opposite side of the ball,” Reyes said. “So returning a lot of players there is a real good thing, especially since we have a lot of receiver competition. It’ll just make communicating and playing together more simple.”

Geneva’s Dylan Reyes looks for running room in IHSA Class 6A quarterfinal playoff football action at Cary Saturday.

Geneva’s Dylan Reyes looks for running room in IHSA Class 6A quarterfinal playoff football action at Cary in November 2023. (Patrick Kunzer for Shaw Local/Patrick Kunzer for Shaw Local)

Reyes also has looked into possibly making appearances on offense at wide receiver, filling in the holes left by Taylor and Finnegan Weppner. Junior wide receiver Bennett Konkey is the only starting offensive skill player from last season.

It wouldn’t be Reyes’ first time playing on offense for the Vikings. He had a combined 45 catches for 409 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman and sophomore before making the move solely to defense as a junior.

“I’d definitely be open to playing there, but I think we have a lot of really good talent at receiver this season,” Reyes said. “I mean, it’d be totally fun if I could play both sides. If coach wants me to play, I’ll play. But it’ll be the best people at the position will play.”

While Thorgesen has thoughts of using Reyes as a two-way player, his focus for now is making sure the players and coaches have the Vikings prepared for the season opener Aug. 29 at Larkin and ready to defend their DuKane Conference title.

“We’re going to figure out what type of team we are and we’re going to continue to expand on that,” Thorgesen said. “Our defense has been more advanced this year than previous years, this early in the summer, and our offense is going to get better every every week and every day. And we’re going to continue to keep getting better because these kids are eager to get out there.”