DAVID NEGIN
GENEVA — A neutral observer would view Geneva’s 42-7 win over visiting Wickliffe Friday night as a solid win for the Eagles.
But, to head coach Tony Hassett and his team, it was much more.
The win marked the first time Geneva had won an opening football game since a 26-13 win over South in the 1999 season.
In fact, Hassett could not even remember the last time Geneva had beaten a non-conference opponent outside Ashtabula County.
“It is a big deal for our program,” Hassett said.
What also was a big deal was how his team performed.
Consider:
n Geneva rushed for 315 yards on the ground, including 160 from senior running back James Murray (3 touchdowns).
n The Eagles did not commit a single penalty during the game.
n The Geneva defense held Wickliffe to just 148 yards total from scrimmage, yielding just 8 first downs.
n The Eagle passing attack broke out in a big way, with junior quarterback Tyler Erb showing the experience gained as a starter last year was valuable. Erb completed 9 of 13 passes on the night (completing his last 9 passes) for 190 yards and a touchdown.
The last point particularly pleased Hassett. While people knew that Geneva had a potent running game returning behind Murray (1,124 yards last year) and an experienced line, the Eagles did not have a proven passing attack.
“Last year, we were one-dimensional,” he said. “It makes a big difference that we have more than one guy this year. Tyler has worked hard throwing the ball, and is a lot stronger.”
The fact particularly pleases Murray, who amassed 124 of his yards in the first half.
“When you have people like Caleb Strauser (4 catches, 106 yards) and Alec Muller (5 for 84 yards) running down the field and getting open and Erb throwing them the ball… it is just awesome,” he said.
Perhaps the biggest play for the Eagles came at the end of the half. Wickliffe scored its only touchdown of the game on a 84-yard kickoff return from senior D.J. Brown, cutting the Geneva lead to 21-7 with 3 minutes left.
Wickliffe seemed to gain even more momentum when Murray left the game temporarily as he hobbled off the field after a first-down run.
But the Eagles responded with Erb completing passes on the next three plays, including a 34-yard touchdown strike to Strauser, giving the hosts a 28-7 halftime lead.
“I scrambled left and saw a guy chasing me down,” Erb recalled. “Then I saw (fullback) Nelson’s (Marquez) eyes light up. I knew he was going to smash (block) that guy. When he did, it gave me enough time to find Caleb open down the field.”
Plays like that impressed Wickliffe coach Greg Nackley.
“They (Geneva) are just a fundamentally sound football team,” he said. “We knew they were going to play hard, their backs run hard, they have a good quarterback, and their line comes off the ball well.”
Negin is a freelance writer from Madison.
