Video: Rochelle at Geneseo Highlight Reel

Video Highlights! Green Machine @ Assumption

Green Machine Rallies Past Assumption, 16-13, in Season Opener

Geneseo opened the 2026 football season with a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback Friday night, rallying past Davenport Assumption for a 16-13 victory in a season opener that included a lengthy weather interruption.

Before the first quarter was complete, play was stopped because of lightning. The delay lasted more than an hour before the teams were able to return to the field and resume play.

Once the game got moving again, the Green Machine controlled the game on the ground, finishing with 473 rushing yards on 59 carries and 24 first downs. Geneseo ran 62 offensive plays compared with 32 for Assumption and outgained the Knights 473-124.

Mark Nelms led the Green Machine with 155 yards on 22 carries, averaging just over seven yards per attempt, and scored Geneseo's only touchdown on a 44-yard run. Luca Turigliatti carried 23 times for 147 yards, while Jack Mickley added 117 yards on just eight attempts, including a 52-yard run.

The three combined for 419 rushing yards on 53 carries.

Brayden Cox added 33 yards on three carries, including a 32-yard run, while Harrison Hill rushed twice for 20 yards with a long of 16.

The victory required Geneseo to overcome two costly turnovers in the first half, both of which were returned for Assumption touchdowns.

Geneseo moved deep into Assumption territory on its opening possession before the first interception was returned for a score. The extra-point attempt was unsuccessful, giving Assumption a 6-0 lead.

The Green Machine answered when Carson Peters connected on a 42-yard field goal, cutting the deficit to 6-3.

Another Geneseo interception in the second quarter was returned for Assumption's second defensive touchdown. This time, the extra point was good, sending the Knights into halftime with a 13-3 advantage.

Geneseo finished the night 0-for-2 passing with two interceptions, meaning all 473 yards of its offense came on the ground.

Photo by Sarah DeMaranville

Despite the turnovers, Geneseo continued finding success on the ground. The Green Machine finished with 24 first downs compared with seven for Assumption and converted four of 10 third-down attempts. Geneseo was also successful on its only fourth-down attempt.

Assumption was held to just 124 total yards, all rushing. The Knights ran only 32 offensive plays and converted two of seven third-down attempts. Geneseo's defense repeatedly gave its offense opportunities to work back into the game.

That comeback arrived in the fourth quarter.

Nelms broke loose for a 44-yard touchdown run, and the ensuing extra point cut Assumption's lead to 13-10.

Peters then delivered again, connecting on a 20-yard field goal to tie the game at 13-13.

With the game hanging in the balance, Geneseo's ground game put the Green Machine in position for one final opportunity. Mickley's biggest run of the night covered 52 yards, the longest Geneseo rush of the game.

Photo by Sarah DeMaranville

Peters completed the comeback with the game-winning field goal as time expired, giving Geneseo the 16-13 victory.

Geneseo's defense was led statistically by Mickley, who recorded three tackles and five assists. Ben Simosky added three tackles and three assists, while Max Nicke recorded two tackles and three assists. Trevor Freeman was credited with a tackle for loss.

The final numbers showed Geneseo's statistical advantage. The Green Machine outgained Assumption 473-124 and held a 24-7 advantage in first downs. Geneseo committed one penalty for 10 yards, while both of its interceptions were returned by Assumption for touchdowns.

Geneseo begins the 2026 season 1-0.

GENESEO INDIVIDUAL STATS VS. ASSUMPTION

OFFENSE

Mark Nelms #27
22 carries, 155 yards, 1 TD
Long: 44 yards

Luca Turigliatti #7
23 carries, 147 yards
Long: 27 yards
Passing: 0-for-2, 2 INT

Jack Mickley #3
8 carries, 117 yards
Long: 52 yards

Brayden Cox #26
3 carries, 33 yards
Long: 32 yards

Harrison Hill #24
2 carries, 20 yards
Long: 16 yards

Rest of team
1 carry, 1 yard

DEFENSE

Jack Mickley #3
3 tackles, 5 assists

Ben Simosky #33
3 tackles, 3 assists

Max Nicke #20
2 tackles, 3 assists

J. Wexell #10
1 tackle

B. Diehl #43
1 tackle, 3 assists

K. Mosier #19
1 tackle, 2 assists

E. Bjorkman #53
1 tackle, 2 assists

T. Freeman #62
1 tackle, 1 assist, 1 tackle for loss

K. Ariano #25
1 tackle, 1 assist

E. Brown #61
1 assist

Brayden Cox #26
1 assist

Rest of team
1 fumble recovery

SPECIAL TEAMS

Carson Peters #9
Field goals: 3-for-3 (100%)
Field-goal points: 9
Kickoffs: 4
Touchbacks: 3

J. Wexell #10
2 kickoff returns
14-yard average
Long: 17 yards

Luca Turigliatti #7
1 punt

TEAM TOTALS

Total plays: 62
Total offense: 473 yards
Rushing: 473 yards
Passing: 0 yards
First downs: 24
Third downs: 4-for-10 (40%)
Fourth downs: 1-for-1 (100%)
Turnovers: 2
Interceptions thrown: 2
Penalties: 1 for 10 yards

Green Machine: BRAKEdown - Weinzierl

By Keith Brake
Geneseo Current

Weinzierl Honored as an All-Stater

If the all-state football teams are starting to appear in the media, then it must be getting close to Thanksgiving.

That's the case now, as Geneseo two-way standout senior Kye Weinzierl has been chosen to the 18-player Class 4A team announced by the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association.

Weinzierl, a 6-1, 191-pound senior, is one of three players from the WB6 to gain a spot on one of the association's all-state squads.

The Maple Leaf standout was also voted the Most Valuable Player recently in the WB6.

Drew Phillips of Moline made the Class 7A team as a linebacker, quarterback and wide receiver.

The other WB6 player to make it was Todd Smith in Class 6A. He is a 6-6, 305-pound two-way down lineman from Quincy.

Several players Geneseo played against in the playoffs also were named in Class 4A.

They included Roman Villalobos, a fullback from Rochelle; Caedon Curran, the fullback from Morris, and Drake May, a running back and linebacker from Macomb.

Green Machine: BRAKEdown - 2025 Wrap

By Keith Brake
Geneseo Current

This is the Game That Never Ends . . .

“If you had told me back at the start of the season, that this Geneseo team would take Morris into the fourth quarter of a state quarterfinals game with a chance to win, I wouldn't have believed you,” Maple Leafs Coach Matt Furlong said.

“I felt like we had them on the ropes,” the coach said.

Remedies? Another last-minute onside kick recovery, maybe – or, just five more minutes of playing time.

The Leafs didn't get that recovery – or the five minutes. Morris and all-state fullback Caedon Curran won this train wreck of a high school football game, 28-26, at a throbbing Bob Reade Field on Saturday, Nov. 15.

I'm not sure veteran observers around the state figured Geneseo would get that close to Morris, but we watched a rising Leafs team grow into their shoulder pads and uniforms as this game progressed.

“We tackled real well, especially toward the end,” Furlong said.

Reason for not winning?

“We missed our first point-after kick, then we didn't convert on a two-point attempt after our second touchdown,” the coach said. “If I had it to do again, I would opt for a one-point try and going into halftime down 14-13.”

Well, there were other reasons, of course, in such a closely-contested game.

Keys for the Redskins after halftime was the patient running of all-state fullback Caedon Curran. He would approach the line slowly, waiting for his big linemen to make contact. Then he would accelerate into the holes. Not big holes, but enough for Morris to keep moving the sticks, and wind up scoring its third and fourth touchdowns.

Geneseo kept moving the ball, too. “We were getting movement with our outside veer. But eventually, it became a fullback game for us.” Furlong said.

Fullbacks Mark Nelms and freshman Ben Simosky combined for 30 carries in this game. “Our previous high for fullback carries in a game this year was 18,” Furlong said.

Nelms took a hit during third quarter play that caused back spasms. He had to come out, and into the biggest game of his life came ninth-grader Simosky.

With spin moves and fullback smashes he barged Geneseo to the four yard line, then smashed his way in from there.

“Morris is a good, big physical team, but we responded to it better in the second half and found ways to move the ball,” Furlong said.

Geneseo had no passing yards in this game, but Furlong wasn't too concerned about that. “When we wanted to throw, Jackson (quarterback McAvoy) wasn't getting much of a rush, so he picked up yardage scrambling.”

Morris , with Curran carrying the load, powered downfield and took a 28-19 lead with 4:43 left. Simosky scored his touchdown with 1:23 left. “He had older, very good players bouncing off of HIM,” Furlong said.

And this scenario started looking like the Rochelle game's finish. Could lightning strike again?

Carson Peters again executed an onside kick. “Kye (Weinzierl) actually got a hand on the ball,” Furlong said. “Had we recovered, I think 1:23 would have been enough for us to drive down and kick the winning field goal,” said Geneseo's coach.

Geneseo closed a 9-3 season. “The biggest thing we achieved this year was getting a “buy-in” from the boys, offensively and defensively,” Furlong said.

Championships are nice, but they're a by-product. Competition varies from year to year. But one thing a coach can measure is whether a team got better during the season.

In closing his TV telecast of the game, Geneseo Hall of Fame Coach Denny Diericx said, “I've never seen a football team that improved so much in just one season.”

“I learned over a number of years at Cary-Grove that you've got to keep finding ways,” Furlong said.

“We can be happy with what we accomplished this year,” said the coach, “but we can never be content with it. We have to grow with it.”

LEAF NOTES: “If we had to play Montini in Saturday's semifinals, we'd likely be without four guys,” said Furlong. “But I think Morris might be without two.”. . .The Leafs rushed for more than 3,000 yards in their 12-game season. Jackson McAvoy led with just over 1,000 yards. Weinzierl had 881, and Nelms had 750. Harrison Hill and several others took the total past 3,000. Weinzierl made 168 tackles, including 96 assisted and 72 solo. He had four sacks and two interceptions. He made the the coaches association Class 4A all-state team and was voted best overall player in the Western Big Six.

OBSERVATION: “Always Together” are the words written at the base of every Geneseo varsity helmet. Football season never ends here. It may be carried over to a new calendar year, but after you've once made it to the Green Machine, your heart will be in every game. Wait a few years, and see if I'm not right about this . . . - Keith Brake, Geneseo Current

Green Machine: BRAKEdown - Week 12

Geneseo vs. Morris: This is Why Our Kids Do Football

By Keith Brake
Geneseo Current


If you play football for Geneseo, Saturday's Class 4A quarterfinals game against Morris is the kind of event you want to be part of.

A challenge, to be sure, against a fellow “blueblood” program (one that has a storied history).

Morris has three state championships and 11 state title game appearances. Geneseo has four state crowns, and 10 appearances in the state finals.

Their histories ricochet off playoff wannabees around the state.

Their colors reflect National Football League glory (Morris the Redskins/Commanders), Geneseo the Packers.

Both are good this year. The Redskins are 10-1 and have lost only to a good team in Michigan. Geneseo is 9-2 and in a resurgence under second-year Coach Matt Furlong.

The Leafs have won seven in a row, their offensive numbers have been climbing, and their defense is ...well, surging to the ball.

Geneseo is quick off the football period, in a way that reminds one of their championship years.

We suspect Morris is powerful up front. The Redskins, it seems, always are.

They got here in different ways last week. Somehow Morris and Metamora, with traditional ground games, got into a shootout. Metamora started fast, but the Redskins caught them at 29-29 by halftime.

Morris kept going, posting 35 more points after intermission, to 14 by the Redbirds. Those add up to 64-50 for Morris – 14 is a typical margin for each in one of their games. That margin works.

“Metamora had a running back who was in the state track meet last spring. He made people miss in the open field,” said Leafs Coach Matt Furlong.

But a collection of Morris athletes made Metamora tacklers miss.

“Morris does what Macomb tried to do last week, but with more athletic ability,” said Geneseo's coach.

They do it from a shotgun formation. “They'll take vertical shots down the field, and we had better be ready,” the Leafs' coach said.

“On defense, they're aggressive. That creates some seams, but they make it tough for your offense to get through,” Furlong said.

Morris running back Caedon Curran (6-0, 195) was averaging 139 yards rushing in his team's first nine games. Quarterback Brady Varner, (6-1, 180) hasn't thrown for huge yardage, but his completion rate is a dizzying 63%.

Furlong has his quarterbacks take snaps from under center, which had been a Geneseo tradition. The Leafs run their version of the wing-T, but quarterback Jackson McAvoy is a slick operator of the veer option, too.

McAvoy leads Geneseo rushers with around 900 yards.

Geneseo has a speed and all-around threat in Kye Weinzierl, a 6-1, 191-pound senior, who plays wingback, wide-out, free safety and linebacker . . .whatever the Leafs need most at the moment.

Last week, Weinzierl, a very strong tackler, was named the most valuable player in the Western Big 6, a league that includes some 4A, 6A and 7A schools.

Lately, Leafs fullback Mark Nelms has really asserted himself in the position. He hits the line and the hole really fast, which helps mightily in setting up Geneseo's option. At first, his 3-4 yard gains advanced to 5-8, and now some are going beyond that.

In the 29-0 win over Macomb last week, Geneseo started fast on defense and kept getting better. “When we play a certain way, we're pretty good,” Furlong said.

Offense: The Leafs started well, but drifted off to a far pavilion in the second quarter, in which they racked up eight penalties! They checked back in after halftime. Geneseo had no penalties the rest of the way, with 76-yard and 80-yard scoring drives.

“Better execution,” Furlong said. “Long drives. That's what we need to see. We're aiming to simplify. . .and execute.”

Game time Saturday is 2 p.m. at Bob Reade Field. Be there!!

Green Machine: BRAKEdown - Playoff Notebook

Hard Work Rewards Peters and Leafs

By Keith Brake
Geneseo Current


We keep coming back to that Rochelle game, but why not?

It was a classic!

“They'll be talking about this game for years!” exclaimed Geneseo TV play-by-play announcer Denny Diericx.

So why not talk about it a little more now?

Leafs Coach Matt Furlong had a few words to share about the man of the hour, placekicker Carson Peters, whose 36-yard field goal provided the margin of Geneseo's 16-14 win over Rochelle.

“Carson has done a job working on onside kicks,” Furlong said. “It paid off.”

“Carson spent a lot of time this summer working on kicking with his dad,” the coach said. “To the point of doing calisthenics right before running out to kick, to get his heart rate up before running out and kicking in a game.”

That's not crazy. But it's pretty precise!

“Carson played both soccer and football before this year, but he decided to just do football this year,” Furlong said. “And all the work with his dad has helped Carson become more comfortable with the game.”

Some keys to the Geneseo win

“We knew the Rochelle game would be tight,” Furlong said. “We knew matchups with their offensive line would be tough, but our kids responded to the situation and put themselves in position to win.”

“The kids said they were sore, so we asked them if they would rather win and be sore . . .or lose and be sore,” said the coach.

Furlong said Geneseo won because of three reasons, then named more than that.

'First, on defense we tackled really well except for maybe two plays, and we held them to three to five yards per play,” he said.

“Second, our kids knew what to expect from our first game against Rochelle.” (such as being sore!)

“Third, we had diversity on offense. We worked Kye Weinzierl and Jackson McAvoy against them early, then came back with Mark Nelms inside later,” Furlong said.

“Another thing was our special teams play” noting the most special play of all – the last one – and one a bit earlier: Peters's kickoff which led to Jayden Wexell's recovery.

Furlong also said the Leafs used a new scheme to pass the ball to Weinzierl in behind the defense to set up the game-winning field goal.

“It was big that we held them to two scores,” Furlong said.

“This game, we executed well all over, compared with our first game with them,” he said, “and the kids stayed more composed in the fourth quarter.”

Playoffs help sustain programs

It's no accident that Geneseo and quite a few other programs appear in the state playoffs quite often.

Coach Pat Mitchell, one of the commentators on Geneseo's livestream broadcasts, said, “Each week the varsity advances in the playoff means another week the younger players can practice with them,” he said.

The high school season is relatively short compared with the college and pro campaigns, and that extra practice leads to some drastic improvements during the playoffs. If you've watched Geneseo teams over the years, you'll remember how some of them just exploded during post-season play.

“Staying alive in the playoffs is a way the good programs sustain themselves,” Mitchell said.

Green Machine: BRAKEdown - Week 11

Some Blasts From the Past for Leafs

By Keith Brake
Geneseo Current


“The town is excited,” said Geneseo Football Coach Matt Furlong.

“Our boys are excited,” he said. “And you know who is taking all this in?” he asked.

“Our younger kids,” he said, knowing full well that bunch, which includes future Green Machine players, had never seen Geneseoans really let their hair down about football, like us old geezers did.

Well wake up the echoes and shake down thunder!

It's happening, maybe a year sooner than Furlong expected.

“There are signs in store windows, I mean BIG signs” he said. Signs of support are up all over town. Decorated green tractors in farm fields. And just a general buzz in the air. “You can tell something is up,” Furlong said.

Observers say it began quietly after the Moline game, in which Geneseo acquitted itself as well as anyone local has against the WB6 champions.

Nobody around here does playoff football quite like Geneseo. I always say that sometimes.

On Saturday, we'll get a blast from the past when the Leafs play the Macomb Bombers at their place.

These two teams had a home-and-home regular season series during the 1970s, Geneseo won all six games.

But, there was one game and one superb athlete we'll never forget. I say Phil Bradley of Macomb is the greatest quarterback a Geneseo team ever played against.

In 1976, at home, the Leafs beat the Bombers 35-32, and did so only because Geneseo had possession on the last drive of the game!

Bradley threw laser-guided rocket balls. His receivers tried to catch them in their bellies. King Cline, one of his receivers, feared broken fingers would result if he tried to catch one in his hands.

Bradley was a two-sport athlete, baseball being the other one. He went on to establish passing records at the University of Missouri, then went on to a long career with baseball's Seattle Mariners.

When I got upstairs to talk with Geneseo's coaches, Bob Reade was doubled over, laughing. “I'll bet you're here to interview my defensive coordinator,” Reade said.

Seated next to him, said coordinator, Larry Johnsen, Sr., was about to double over. And he was trying to hide his face.

Bradley was one of those athletes that Macomb had thanks to his dad's coaching employment at Western Illinois University. The Bombers get a kid from that relationship with Western every now and then. I'm not sure if that's the case this year, but they've got several guys who stand out on the scouting reports.

Unfortunately for Macomb, Phil Bradley graduated back in the 70s.

This year, the Bombers are 9-1, having lost to a good Farmington team.

Coach Furlong says quarterback Kaden Knupp (#5, 6-0, 175) “throws a good deep ball.” Knupp through 9 games had 13 touchdown passes and a .582 completion percentage.

Running back Drake May (#23, 5-11, 165), had averaged 124 rushing yards a game and 14 tackles a game from his linebacker position. He had 14 touchdowns as of two weeks ago.

Drew Watson (#1) averaged 80 yards receiving per game through that period.

“I was impressed by Macomb,” Furlong said. “They're a disciplined team with a good running game.”

“On defense, Macomb tackled well in space,” he said. “Hillcrest (playoff round one opponent) had some speed, but Macomb always had people around their quick guys.”

Macomb won that game 21-6.