This Could Be Like a Playoff Game
By Keith Brake
Geneseo Current
Both Quincy and Geneseo have been playoff-qualified for more than a week, the Blue Devils in Class 6A and the Maple Leafs in Class 4A.
But when they meet Friday night at Bob Reade Field, they’ll be closing out their regular seasons.
When you’re a good team and you have a good team across from you, there’s not much chance you’ll “coast” into into the post-season. Friday night’s game is likely to be played in a playoff atmosphere!
Quincy is 6-2, having blocked Sterling’s path to the Western Big Six championship with a 52-28 win over the Golden Warriors last Friday in Quincy.
Geneseo is 5-3 officially. The Leafs were idle last week, but picked up their forfeit win over Alleman.
Geneseo beat Quincy 45-7 last year in Quincy, so the Blue Devils are well-and recently-aware of what Leaf teams are capable of doing.
That Geneseo team learned to use its physicality to impose its will against larger teams in the conference. Leafs Coach Matt Furlong had been waiting for this year’s squad to do the same.
That finally happened in Geneseo’s 58-23 win over Galesburg on Sept. 25. The Leafs scored on their first eight possessions - eight touchdowns and a field goal. By then, a minute into the fourth quarter, the continuous clock was ticking.
Quincy is an artful blend of pinpoint passing and explosive running, led by quarterback Bryson Little, a son of Blue Devils Coach Rick Little.
Bryson has passed for more than 2,400 yards, but even more attention-getting numbers are 34 touchdown strikes and a 72 (seventy two) percent completion percentage.
Uh-huh! So, when Geneseo does get the ball, the Leafs would do well to finish drives with touchdowns, like they did against Galesburg.
Galesburg, by the way, beat Quincy 56-42. So, you never know. Matchups are important. So is momentum....and physicality.
Geneseo takes every snap from under center and comes at opponents from a flex-bone offense, which capitalizes on individual strengths of players and their abilities to read defenses.
Mark Nelms has rushed for 114ga yards per game, most from fullback until he filled in at one of the wingback spots in the most recent game.
Quarterback Luca Turigliatti has run for 93 yards per game, waiting for just the right moment to cut on read/pass options.
Sophomore Ben Simosky has been a menace at linebacker, but filled in at fullback recently and reminded some Geneseo observers of Leaf fullbacks from 50 years ago, when Leaf teams terrorized north central Illinois.
Geneseo was hoping to get senior wingback Jack Mickley back from an injury this week. He gives the team another element of speed when the team runs jet sweeps. His speed also helps defensive coverage in the secondary.
Brayden Cox at wingback also adds a speed element.
Geneseo also has a major weapon at place kicker. Carson Peters kicked a 50-yard field goal against Sterling, and routinely boots the ball through the zone on kickoffs.
This has been a year of offenses in the conference, and we expect to see some Friday Night at Bob Reade Field.
PLAYOFF TIMETABLE NOTES - Oct. 17 - pairings announced. Opening round - Oct. 23-24. First round - Oct. 30-31. Second round - Nov. 6-7. Quarterfinals - Nov. 13-14. Semifinals - Nov. 20-21. Finals - Nov. 27-28. Finals will be at Hancock Stadium in Normal.
There will be 48 teams in each class, up from 32 per class in previous years.