GENOA — There aren’t enough superlatives to describe how well Genoa’s football team played Friday night.
In a word, though, the Comets were terrific.
And for a second word, wow would be a good choice. [SEE
PHOTO GALLERY]
They dominated offensively and defensively en route to a 54-11 victory over Eastwood in the Suburban
Lakes League’s Super Bowl.
Genoa — ranked fourth in the state in Division IV — shredded Eastwood’s defense for 506 yards with a mix
of the run and the pass.
The Comets rushed for 361 yards and passed for 145, scoring the first eight times they had the ball. They
didn’t turn the ball over and punted once, that coming on their last possession with 3:30 to play in the
game.
Genoa’s defense was just as impressive. The Comets held Eastwood to 169 yards rushing 58 yards passing,
but only 93 of that came in the first half when Genoa built a 34-3 lead.
Eastwood scored its only touchdown with 11:29 to play in the game on a 56-yard pass from Clayton Ruch to
Clay Rolf to cut Genoa’s lead to 47-11.
The Eagles, ranked 21st in Division IV, entered the game averaging 53.2 points and 436.4 yards per game.
“I’m at a loss for words because we played so well against an undefeated team, a team that had been
scoring a million points,” Comet coach Mike Vicars said.
Genoa remained undefeated at 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the SLL and figures to finish 10-0 overall. The
Comets have won the league at 7-0 the last two seasons and are seeking their third straight playoff
berth.
Eastwood suffered its first loss. The Eagles (5-1, 2-1) are the only team in the league with a chance to
beat Genoa and even they were no match.
Most experts thought the Comets were a three-touchdown favorite, and they had that covered with three
minutes to go in the first half.
Genoa held Eastwood without a first down to start the game and then drove 64 yards in six plays for a 7-0
lead. Connor Wendt scored on a 25-yard pass from Matt Bassitt just 3:08 into the game.
Eastwood then fumbled the ball back to Genoa at the Eagle 27-yard line on its next series.
Six players later, Wendt scored on a sweep for a 14-0 lead with 4:48 left in the first quarter.
Eastwood closed to within 14-3 on Taylor Depew’s 22-yard field goal with 9:45 to go in the half, but
Genoa scored three TDs in the final 5:03. The last came on Wendt’s 29-yard pass from Bassitt with 11.6
seconds left.
“We couldn’t stop them, that’s what it came down to,” Eastwood coach Jerry Rutherford said. “They have a
great football team.”
Genoa’s Greg Hillabrand rushed 18 times for 190 yards, including touchdown runs of 9, 75 and 15 yards.
Wendt, a running back, caught eight passes for 125 yards and ran four times for 39 yards. He also scored
on passes of 29 and 24 yards from quarterback Bassitt, who was 10-of-18 with four TDs.
The multiple threats, along with Genoa’s quality line play, were no match for Eastwood.
“We had a good balance of pass and run and that kept them off-balance defensively,” Vicars said. “Matt
does such a nice job running our team. We’ve got some weapons and they made some plays.
“I don’t care how a good team you are, when you have a team making plays against you, it’s hard to
sustain things.”
“They have a lot of weapons and they did some stuff tonight that we hadn’t seen on film,” said
Rutherford, who had watched four of Genoa’s five games.
Genoa designed its defense to take away Cody Seifert’s speed to the outside, and the running and
receiving of tight end Rolf. The 6-foot-6, 251-pound Rolf had just two catches as he was shadowed by
defensive end Richard Wonnell (6-9, 235). Seifert ran 13 times for only 52 yards.
The Eagles had limited success running the ball inside with Pernell Conner, who had 16 carries for 82
yards.
“We felt like if we were going to give up anything, that would be it,” Vicars said. “We overplayed (Rolf
and Seifert). We played pretty well defensively.”
Eastwood probably has to beat Patrick Henry Oct. 23, ranked fourth in Division V, to make the playoffs.
The Eagles most likely will finish second in the SLL behind Genoa.
“We have to re-evaluate our goals,” Rutherford said. “We now know a league championship isn’t possible.
We’ll focus on finishing 9-1 and trying to get in the playoffs. We have to regroup. This was pretty
humbling.”
GENOA 54, EASTWOOD 11
EASTWOOD
3
8
—11
GENOA
14
20
13
7
—54
G — Wendt, 25 pass from Bassitt (Pickard kick)
G — Wendt, 2 run (Pickard kick)
E — Depew, 22 field goal
G — Hillabrand, 9 run (kick failed)
G — Hillabrand, 75 run (Pickard kick)
G — Wendt, 29 pass from Bassitt (Pickard kick)
G — Wendt, 24 pass from Bassitt (kick blocked)
G — Hillabrand, 15 run (Pickard kick)
E — Rolf, 56 pass from Ruch (Conner run)
G — Roberts, 9 run (Pickard kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
Category
E
G
First downs
11
28
by rushing
9
21
by passing
1
7
by penalty
1
Total net yards
227
506
Rushing
169
361
Passing
58
145
Atempts
6
18
Completions
2
10
Interceptions
Punts/average
4/35.8
1/33.0
Penalties/yards
4/33
4/41
Fumbles/lost
2/1
0/0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: (E) Seifert, 13-52; Conner, 16-82; Ruch, 2-(minus 4); Rolf, 2-1; Tijerina, 5-12; Richardson,
5-26. (G) Dufendock, 9-58; Hillabrand, 18-190; Wendt, 4-39; Cuevas, 5-19; Pickard, 3-13; Roberts, 2-40;
Murphy, 2-5; Lopez, 2-(minus 3).
PASSING: (E) Ruch, 2-6-0—58. (G) Bassitt, 8-10-0—145; Bryer, 0-0-0—0.
RECEIVING: (E) Rolf, 2-58. (G) Wendt, 8-125; Dufendock, 1-13; Lester, 1-7.
