Lake County Sentinel
Blue Streaks fall to Geneva 35-11
JOEY SCHNEIDER
STAFF
(GENEVA, OH) - The 9-1 Eagles of Geneva hosted the 7-3 Madison Blue Streaks in Geneva on Friday playing at Spire Stadium. It was the first round of the OHSAA high school playoffs. The fifth seeded Geneva had already beat the twelfth seeded Blue Streaks two weeks earlier, in week nine of the regular season 21-14.
It was a chilly night in Geneva with temperatures in the upper 40's. The wind was blowing east to west in the stadium. Both teams’ communities showed up in mass to show their support. Two teams separated by ten minutes and the Lake/Ashtabula counties borders were ready to give it all they had. Geneva won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. Madison received the ball first to start the game.
Madison's first drive was a three and out due to a tough Eagles defense. After a punt that pinned Geneva back on their own 13 yard line, they orchestrated a drive that went 87 yards, culminating in a six-yard rushing touchdown by junior running back Bryce Peet for the first score of the game with 3:32 left in the first quarter, and Geneva leading 7-0.
Both teams’ defense stepped up big in the second quarter until Geneva's senior quarterback Luke Barbo connected with senior running back Hayden Diemer on a 15-yard catch, converting on fourth down. A few plays later Barbo would run it in from the nine yard line for a touchdown extending Geneva's lead 14-0 with just over three minutes left in the half.
Madison would feel the pressure and respond as junior quarterback Will Randall Jr completed passes in quick succession to a myriad of Madison receivers. Geneva buckled down and slowed the drive. With: 38 seconds left in the half the Blue Streaks senior kicker Ben Amos would drill a 32-yard field goal through the uprights and cut into Geneva's lead as they went into halftime with a 14-3 lead.
The second half started with an onside kick attempt by Ben Amos, which saw him bounce it ten yards up the field and fall on it, recovering it for the Blue Streaks giving them the ball. However, even with that momentum, Geneva would not allow a first down and regained possession on a punt.
The Eagles did not squander many opportunities. Luke Barbo found Hayden Diemer for 55-yards, then again, the pair would play pitch and catch, this time on a fourth and long, setting Geneva up in the red zone. Diemer would then score on a three-yard rush at the 6:03 mark in the third quarter.
In the next drive by the Blue Streaks, Geneva's senior defensive back Donald Shymske tracked a thrown ball and jumped in front of the receiver, intercepting the ball, and taking it 21-yards for the pick six. The Eagles were starting to run away with the game 28-3.
Madison would not go quietly and fought hard all night as it was evident as the Blue Streaks junior running back Payton Birman took a pitch from Randall Jr and ran 71-yards down the sideline for the rushing touchdown. After a successful two-point conversion Madison trailed 28-11 going into the fourth quarter.
Geneva would score once more on another Hayden Diemer touchdown. This time from 12 yards out with less than ten minutes in the game.
The defenses took over for the remainder of the contest not allowing the other to put another point on the scoreboard, and Madison would let the clock run out as Geneva would pick up the win with a final score of 35-11, advancing to the next round of the playoffs.
Geneva quarterback Luke Barbo led the Eagles with 18 rushes for 148 yards and a touchdown while also going 4 of 7 passing for 79 yards.
Madison's Payton Birman led the Blue Streaks with 8 carries for 107 yards and a touchdown.
Each team gathered after the game Geneva's head coach Don Shymske gave his team a speech about playing tough and now moving on in the playoffs while Madison's was more about remembering this season. One of Madison's assistant coaches giving some heartfelt advice to the players after a terrific 7-4 season saying, "Don't let this be the best thing you ever do in your life, always strive to be the best."
After Madison's tough loss head coach Mike Gilligan had this to say about the emotions of the game, "Right now I'm focused on our seniors and their last football game. We spent a lot of time with these guys and I'm gonna miss them. That's my number one emotion right now is just the finality of it all."
*credit to Cameron Palmer of the CVC for the stat lines..
POSTED 11/02/2024 00:56
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Photo by Joey Schneider
