It was a one-score game the last time Geneva and Madison played. The Eagles were determined to not have the same result. The Eagles had a two-score lead at the half, and even a Blue Streaks’ onside kick out of the break couldn’t shake Geneva. The Eagles took the win, 35-11, to advance to the Division III regional quarterfinals. They will travel to Aurora on Nov. 8. Geneva forced a three-and-out on the opening drive and took over at its own 13. An 87-yard drive that lasted 13 plays took place. The Eagles gained all of their yards on the drive through the ground game and it was capped by a Bryce Peet six-yard score. Coach Donald Shymske knew the long drives were going to make a difference. “Our game plan is to always grind it out and have those types of drives,” Donald said. “We get penalties and are behind the sticks, that’s not in our wheelhouse. If we can have drives like the 87-yard one to start the game, that feeds into what we want to do if we can maintain those drives.” Another Madison three-and-out resulted in another Geneva drive, but an incompletion on fourth down created a turnover on downs. But the defense held solid on the ensuing drive. They held Madison to 74 yards, with 10 on the ground. Geneva had a strong start to the third drive, with Luke Barbo rattling off a 25-yard gain and added on a facemask penalty. While the run game was strong but the Eagles pass game was also strong. A 15-yard connection from Barbo to Hayden Diemer put them in the red zone. “We wanted to bounce back,” Diemer said. “It was a tough game against Madison the first time, but we were able to pull it out. I wanted to help the team the best I could for the win. They stacked the box a lot and Luke had a great game. He loaded up.” Barbo finished the drive with a nine-yard run. Madison got into the red zone with two deep connections from Will Randall to Knolan Albert and Alexander Davis. While the Blue Streaks couldn’t find the end zone, Ben Amos connected on a 32-yard field goal before the half. Madison came out of the half with an onside kick that it recovered but had a three-and-out. Geneva responded with an 11-play drive, which included a 56-yard connection between Barbo and Diemer. The latter capped it with a three-yard touchdown run. While he affected the game on the ground, in the receiving game and on defense, Diemer also had a hand in the passing game. On a pitch play, he pivoted and found Caden Proy for a 24-yard gain. “I kind of threw a bad pass,” Diemer said. “He should’ve scored, and I waited a little too long on it. I’m glad it ended up working out.” He added a 12-yard score later in the drive. Geneva also had an interception returned for a score from Donnie Shymske. The passing game played a larger part in the Eagles game plan with an emphasis on chunk plays. Donald knew it was important to have the balance. “We came out and tried to establish the pace of the game,” Donald said. “It was critical. Most teams creep up on us, stack the box. But we were able to catch them on a lot of things. Hayden has some really good speed.” Diemer finished with 132 all-purpose yards. A 10-yard run by Peet on the final Geneva drive of the game sealed it. Madison had chances to get back into the contest but small miscues cost them. Randall finished the game 6-for-17 for 89 yards. Payton Birman had eight carries for 96 yards and a touchdown. In the middle of the third quarter, Birman broke a 71-yard score. While Madison’s season came to an end, Coach Mike Gilligan knows the young players will take the lessons learned into next year. “The seniors from this year and last are cornerstones for our turnaround,” Gilligan said. “We have a good junior class. They played a lot of football this year. For our program, the determination is always there. It’s a year-long battle we’ll be starting soon for next year.” Alexander Davis had the two point conversion after Birman’s big run. THE SCORE Geneva 35, Madison 11