The turnover bug reared its ugly head and bit the Geneva School of Boerne football team hard during Thursday’s district contest against New Braunfels Christian.
Geneva came out of halftime with a 20-14 lead but turned the ball three times in the third quarter and basically fumbled away its chance to win the game.
New Braunfels Christian turned all three turnovers into touchdowns and went on to win the contest, 48-41.
Eagles coach Bob Rosenstiel said it’s frustrating because they keep beating themselves. In last week’s game against Holy Cross, Geneva turned it over five times and had four more turnovers on Thursday, three fumbles and an interception.
All nine turnovers led to touchdowns for Geneva’s opponents, and both games ended in losses for the Eagles.
“We’re not taking care of the ball on offense; I think we’re unstoppable as long as we take care of the ball. Last week we had five picks and with that many turnovers you aren’t going to win games,” he said. “That’s our Achilles Heel. When you turn over the ball, the percentage of winning goes down.”
Geneva fell behind 14-0 early in the game but scored three straight touchdowns before halftime and was leading 20-14.
Eagles QB Caleb Quitadamo scrambled in for two of those touchdowns on runs of 7 and 12 yards, and then Quitadamo found Reid Aderholt on a 50-yard bomb.
After giving up 14 points in the first to the Wildcats, the Eagles defense played shutout ball in the second quarter. Rosenstiel said it wasn’t so much about adjustments as it was about field position.
“When they have to start from their own 40 instead of our 30, that’s a big difference,” he said.
Geneva’s lead didn’t hold for long after the Eagles fumbled on their second play from scrimmage to start the third quarter.
The Wildcats capitalized on their first play after the turnover and retook the lead at 21-20 on a 25-yard TD pass.
The Eagles put the ball on the turf on the first play from scrimmage on its next drive and three plays later, NB Christian scored again for the 28-20 lead for 14 points in two minutes of game time.
But Geneva settled down a bit and cut into the Wildcats advantage. Shea McNew punched it in on a 3rd and goal from the 3 and it was 28-26 after the Eagles went for two and didn’t convert. On that drive, McNew galloped 45 yards with the rock to set up the offense deep in Wildcats territory.
NB Christian answered with an impressive 15-play drive that chewed up almost six minutes of game time to bump its lead to 34-26 after a 6-yard TD pass.
On the ensuing kickoff, Geneva fumbled on the kickoff and NB Christian took advantage with a 3-play drive to push its advantage to 41-26.
“We have to stop hurting ourselves,” Rosenstiel said. “We’re stopping ourselves; we have to make the other team stop us.”
Geneva tallied two more touchdowns in the game; both Quitadamo TD passes to Aderholt of 20 and 8 yards. The Eagles cut it to seven points twice in the final period, but the Wildcats never trailed and scored once more, on a long pass between the Quitadamo to Aderholt touchdowns.
After Geneva’s last score made it 48-41, NB Christian played keep away with a 13-play drive that drained the final 4:55 off the clock despite the Eagles using all three of its timeouts.
Geneva is 4-3 overall and slips to 1-2 in district. The Eagles visit Hill Country Christian on Friday.
Comment
Comments