North Boone and Genoa-Kingston were trading touchdowns throughout the first half.

The Cogs couldn’t get stops, but they did get turnovers.

Ben Kleba intercepted Vikings quarterback Ely Bryan late in the second quarter, then Cody Cravatta intercepted him on the opening drive of the second half as Genoa-Kingston pulled away for a 56-38 win Friday in Genoa.

“As soon as I got the pick, I knew if our offense could go down there and score a touchdown, we could put them out of reach,” Cravatta said. “As long as our offense kept going, we were good.”

The Cogs (2-3 overall, 2-2 Big Northern Conference) took a 34-26 lead with 1:35 left in the second quarter on a 21-yard run by Owen Zaccard, his third and final touchdown of the game.

The Vikings (3-2, 2-2) were starting their drive when Kleba intercepted Bryan with 38.9 seconds left. The Cogs did enough to move into field-goal range, but Adrian Leon’s 46-yard field goal fell just short.

North Boone still had a chance to tie on its first drive of the third quarter and got down to the G-K 16. Cravatta was spying Bryan and trying to make sure Jaziah Howard didn’t make another big play. The sophomore receiver finished with 14 catches for 154 yards and two touchdowns.

Five plays later, Anthony Gum was in for a score to push the lead to 42-26 for the Cogs.

“It was huge,” Davekos said of the interceptions. “It gave us confidence, and we saw a little bit of their program kind of pack it in a little bit, which gave us even more confidence.”

The Vikings connected on their first seven third-down attempts, but after Gum’s score the team picked up a third- and fourth-down stop, the first time a North Boone drive didn’t end in points or a turnover.

The ensuing drive ended with a 29-yard touchdown run for Cravatta early in the fourth, pushing the lead to 49-26.

“I think we bounced back a lot in the second half,” running back Jaiden Lee said. “The coaches definitely got on us about the sloppy first half, and I think we bounced back and fought through it.”

The Vikings held the Cogs scoreless on the first drive of the game and the last drive of the second quarter, with G-K scoring on every other possession.

The Vikings led 7-0 after a methodical drive that went 70 yards in 13 plays, ending with a 21-yard catch-and-run from Bryan to Howard with 3:48 left.

The Cogs answered with two touchdowns in less than a minute. Zaccard ran in from 7 out to tie things up at 7-7. Two plays into the next North Boone drive, Aiden Rich recovered a fumble, and three plays after that, Zaccard was in from 5 yards out.

The second quarter continued the offensive momentum for both teams. Bryan found Howard for a 45-yard touchdown with 10:07 to tie things up 13. With 8:45 left, Lee broke off a 40-yard run, but the ensuing kickoff was returned 98 yards by Howard to tie things at 20-20.

Two plays into the next drive, Cravatta found Blake Ides for a 53-yard touchdown pass and a 27-20 lead.

“As long as you get one defensive stop, if your offense can keep going, you can put it away,” Cravatta said. “That’s what it really came down to.”

Lee led the Cogs with 138 rushing yards. Gum added 84, Zaccard 75 and Cravatta 74. Cravatta also threw for 102 yards, 71 on three receptions for Ides.

Bryan finished 16 of 22 for 189 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He also ran 17 times for 132 yards and a touchdown.

G-K outgained the Vikings 474-461.

All three losses for the Cogs have been by a touchdown. The two wins have been by four touchdowns each. They face 0-5 Rockford Lutheran next week.

“I think it was a fun game, and it’s going to be really good for us,” Lee said. “We obviously really needed this win if we want a chance to get into the playoffs, so I’m happy with it.”

North Boone committed 13 penalties for 150 yards. G-K was flagged eight times for 92 yards.

“We just stuck with it and trusted the process,” Davekos said. “There were some things that happened and got called that we’re not proud of. At the end of the day the kids ran hard and trusted in the team.”