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[Rocketcorner News]

By TJ Schulte

Genoa: Half an hour before kickoff the place was already full, not a seat was to be had. Rarely are first round matchups so hyped, the #2 team in Division 4, the Bryan Golden Bears were coming into the game undefeated and outright champions of the NWOAL led by their do it all QB Austin Schimmoeller who had 43 total touchdowns coming in, and did not disappoint on is night. Genoa on the other hand won their sixth outright conference title in the last seven years, ranked #3 in the state and had also dominated their schedule including two playoff teams by double digits, and they did so with an outstanding stable of running backs.

Early on the defenses held tough, with both Genoa and Bryan being stopped around the opponents 35 on their first possessions. Bryan would then strike big, first with a 24 yard field goal and then recovering a squib kick deep in Genoa territory on the 13, only to shortly punch it in on a QB keeper by Schimmoeller making it 10-0. Controversy happened however as the Bears attempted to score when a Comet player threw a punch at around the three minute mark being ejected from the game, turning out to be a big loss for the comets. Genoa opened it up though as Logan Scott hit Casey Gose perfectly on a slant pattern who would then take it 63 yards to the house putting Genoa on the board with a minute left in the first quarter. Bryan wasted no time after getting the ball back, using only 30 seconds to go three plays and 78 yards to score on a 25 yard TD pass making it 17-7.

Just a minute later David Nutter who was the workhorse for the Comets last night broke a 52 yard run bringing the score back to a three point margin. Just two minutes later Bryan's Schimmoeller found a wide open receiver for an easy 52 yard TD and upped the lead back to 10 points. Genoa then put together a very long drive, taking tons of time off the clock and ended the drive with a 1 yard TD run to bring it ton 24-21 right before half.

Genoa then had the ball to begin the half and with three yards to gain on a fourth down deep in Bryan territory around the 30, the Bears D held tough and stuffed it at the line. Bryan put together a nice drive however a holding call deep in the red zone made it fourth and goal on the Comet 22, yet Schimmoeller was able to once again make another stellar play to score and make it 30-21 late in the third. However on the kickoff the ever explosive Gose received the squib on the 20 and took it to the house bringing the score to 30-28.

As we moved to the fourth maybe the best play of the game by Schimmoeller was his scramble on a third down that he took 55 yards to the house upping the lead to 36-28 with 10:21 left. Genoa would put another nice drive together before punching in a short touchdown, and converting the two point conversion to tie it up with 4:49 left. With lots of time the clear MVP of the game and his offense took over, converting on a few huge third downs and with :48 seconds left Schimmoeller would run it in from 8 yards out giving Bryan the lead for good. On the very first offensive play Bryan would intercept it, sealing the game and advancing to the second round for another season. Excessive taunting however from the Bears team towards the Genoa sidelines would again stir the pot as a fight began to break out on the kneel down, however it was quickly stopped.

Austin Schimmoeller finished the game going 18-33 for 336 yards and 3 TD while rushing for 124 yards and 3 TD as well. Genoa was led offensively by David Nutter who had 188 yards and two touchdowns rushing on 34 carries. Bryan overall would finish the game with 546 yards of offense while Genoa had 409, including 272 on the ground. Bryan will play River Valley next week at a neutral site to be determined