One in a row! And we'll take it!
The goals against Galesburg were to finish plays, finish drives, and finish the game.
Missions accomplished in Geneseo's 28-21 win over Galesburg last Friday at Bob Reade Field.
The Leafs absorbed a 350-yard, three-touchdown assault from Silver Streaks running back Jamar Range.
“We found a way,” said Geneseo Coach Matt Furlong.
The “finish” by the Leafs was an 80-yard scoring drive, that took more than four minutes and ended with 1:14 left to play on an option run right by quarterback Jackson McAvoy.
The touchdown was the first in the second half a game by Geneseo since the season opener against Chicago Comer.
Range, who is listed at 5-11 and 180-pounds, is a piece of football work. He follows his blocking and does some intricate hip-hop cutting. Defenders reach for him and after he isn't there, he hits the afterburners and he really is gone.
Furlong recited a short list of Chicagoland backs he had faced over 19 years. “Range would be on that list, toward the top,” the coach said. “The thing we didn't note on the films we saw was his strength.”
Galesburg didn't go to him on two key plays late in the game. A quarterback sack by Kye Weinzierl put the Streaks back on the 20-yard line, whereupon a 37-yard field goal attempt into a stiff north wind didn't make it.
Later, a fourth-down pass toward the boundary was low and batted down by the Leafs.
Furlong admitted the Geneseo staff was surprised – and happy - when Galesburg didn't call on Range then in its hour of need.
Galesburg outrushed Geneseo by about 100 yards, but with the Leafs nearing 300 on the ground, that's not so bad.
Halfback Weinzierl and fullback Kolten Schmoll-Burton did some heavy running, especially on Geneseo's 80-yard winning drive.
This week, it's on to Sterling, where a pair of 3-2 teams with playoff aspirations collide over the ball.
Furlong said the Leafs “defended the pass pretty well” against Galesburg, which does have some playmakers on the edges.
They'll likely get a bigger dose of that against Sterling quarterback Drew Nettleton, who threw for a school-record five touchdowns in the Golden Warriors' 40-3 win over Galesburg a couple weeks ago.
Furlong knows Geneseo's recent history against Sterling, an old NCIC Northeast rival that remains the only WB6 team the Leafs haven't beaten since both teams entered the conference.
Sterling has won nine in a row over Geneseo, limiting the Leafs to one touchdown – or less – in eight of them.
“They're aggressive. They play box-heavy on defense,” the coach said.
“They take things away from you.”
“We're excited to play Sterling,” Furlong said, noting he hopes Geneseo's changed offensive schemes this season can isolate some Warriors on a defensive island during the game.
“But first, we've got a mental block we need to get past here,” said the coach.
“Sterling is well-coached, and it appears they're getting better as the season goes along,” he said.
“We overcame some adversity against Galesburg,” said Geneseo's coach. “It wasn't our best game, but we got some stops on defense. . . and we closed it out. The kids were excited.”
