Geneva tames Bears from Brentwood Friday at home

BY JOSE GARZA III Sports Contributor

Geneva did not have vengeance in mind when it defeated Brentwood Christian 31-14 in the first round of the TAPPS Division III Playoff, Friday at Eagles Stadium, Coach Grant Gaston swears.

Far from it. Instead, Geneva played with a mindset of “fight, finish and love” one week after its 74-7 regular season finale loss to Holy Cross.

“Our team never stops fighting,” Gaston said. “We continue to fight, we continue to finish and we continue to love.

“I had no doubt they would enter this game ready to play and put last week behind them. Their next game mentality came through,” the coach said.

Geneva didn’t waste time bringing the “fight” to Brentwood Christian, scoring 14 points in the first quarter.

K.P. Fitzgerald scored for the Eagles at the 7:36 mark and Jacob Rosenstiel punched in a 4-yard score at the 52-second mark.

Rosenstiel scored on a 2-yard romper at the 5:53 mark in the second quarter to bolster Geneva’s lead to 21-0, a lead they took into halftime.

Brentwood Christian did not take the 21-point deficit lying down, scoring at the 11:33 mark in the third quarter to cut its deficit to 14 at 21-7.

After the Eagles kicked a field goal at the 9:19 mark for a 24-7 lead, the Bears responded a minute and a half later with a Bryson Best touchdown to cut the deficit to 10 at 24-14.

The Eagles increased their lead once again to 17 following a Rosenstiel to JonMichael Raimondo score at the 3:53 mark in the third quarter to make it 31-14.

Jackson Mitchell locked down an interception at the 10:53 mark to prevent Brentwood Christian from cutting further into the Eagles’ lead.

Neither team scored in the fourth quarter and Geneva won to advance to a second- round matchup against Cypress Christian from Houston on Thursday in Giddings, 7 p.m. The Warriors produced a 7-3 overall record this season and Geneva is now 7-4.

The Eagles are going to have to be efficient on offense by moving the ball and controlling the clock if it wants to gain a second-round victory, Gaston said.

“We have to play a good clean game to be in the hunt,” he said.