By Jeff B. Flinn - Managing Editor
The Geneva Eagles added a weapon to their arsenal Friday in their 49-42 win over the TMI Panthers — a ball control offense.
Geneva killed the last 6:51 of the clock after TMI scored the game’s final touchdown, giving coach Adam Foren’s Eagles a 3-0 record heading into their final non-district game next week.
“Our defense came up huge, only allowing two second-half touchdowns,” Foren said following the nail-biter over one of the area’s most powerful offenses.
“I’m so proud of our kids. We had three defensive starters out tonight. But these kids are buying in to what we’re doing here, which is establish a winning tradition,” he said.
Two TMI turnovers and the two Geneva touchdowns that followed allowed Geneva to take a double-digit lead at half.
Down 28-20, TMI found themselves pinned deep in their own territory. An errant deep pass was intercepted by Geneva’s Reid Aderholt. Two plays later, Aderholt was on the receiving end of a 37-yard pass from quarterback Caleb Quitadamo for a 35-20 lead with 5:12 left in the half.
TMI returned the following kickoff to Geneva 17 and advanced to first-and-goal from the 2. But a pass into the interior of the line was picked off by the Eagles Chase Doran at the 5, ending the TMI scoring threat.
On the next play, Luke Abuzeid caught a short 5-yard pass in the flats, made two defenders miss, and raced 95 yards for the touchdown and a three-touchdown lead at 42-20.
Although TMI scored a TD right before half to trim the lead to 15, the pick and subsequent touchdown set the tone for a tighter, more defensive-minded affair in the second half.
TMI scored the first TD of the second half, a 3-yard run on fourth-and-goal, cutting the lead to 42-34. But Geneva put together a 13-play, 75-yrd scoring drive, capped by an Aderholt diving catch from the 10 for a 49-34 lead.
TMI was able to score a touchdown and 2-point conversion to cut the lead to 49-42. But Geneva grinded it out, consuming the remaining 6:51 to preserve the win.
Aderholt caught four TD passes, Abuzeid caught two and Chase Doran had one TD catch to complete Quitadamo’s seven scoring passes on the night.
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