FINAL: Vikings Coast Past Royals 50-6

The Royals were as discombobulated as I was Friday night, and the Vikings were as sharp as they've been in any game this year as Geneva coasted to a 50-6 win at Memorial Stadium, home of the Maroons.

Yes, I said the Maroons. Did I mention that it was a discombobulated night?

For the Vikings, now 7-2 and looking forward to the playoffs, the almost surgical victory was an important statement. On Homecoming weekend two weeks prior, several football players were involved in an underage drinking party that resulted in and the , at whose house the party took place.

That was followed by an upset , a 36-21 defeat, when the wind took away Geneva's passing game and the Storm blew past Geneva's defense as if it were standing still.

"It's been a rough two weeks," coach Rob Wicinski said. "We've had a lot of coming-to-Jesus meetings, for sure, and hopefully we've purged this out of our system. And if we can learn from the experience and do some things here in the playoffs, it will well be worth it. Anything can happen here."

The Larkin game was one the Vikings had to win to ensure a decent playoff seed. And they did. Quickly, efficiently and without a doubt.

Ben Rogers returned the Royals’ first punt to the Larkin 27-yard line, and Parker Woodworth scored the first touchdown, from 3 yards out.

After another Larkin punt, the Vikings drove 53 yards in five plays. The biggest was a 29-yard run by quarterback Matt Williams. After a bad snap, Rogers found (I think) Connor Einck in the end zone for a 2-point conversion.

The third drive took all of two plays. Bobby Hess broke loose for 46 yards, then ran it in from the 6-yard line to cap a 22-0 first quarter.

"They came came out with nice focus. They did what they were supposed to do," Wicinski said. "We had a great week of practice—best week of practice this whole year—so hopefully we'll have another good week getting ready for the playoffs."

In the color-themed panoply of Elgin high school football teams, the Royals were hosting the Vikings at the Maroons' home field. Larkin did seem off balance, or possibly "discombobulated," as Geneva assistant coach Kevin Bell commented in the press box.

They might have been discombobulated by the non-home home field or possibly Parker Woodworth, who carried the ball seven times for 65 yards and four touchdowns in the first half.

Woodworth scored from 7 yards out with 11:38 showing in the second quarter and from 9 yards out with 7:48 on the clock.

"He's run hard all year," Wicinski said. "Some guy asked me, 'I think he's tailed down at the end of the year.' No, we just reduced his carries. He only got nine carries last week and like 12 the week before. Sl he's running as hard as he ever was. And he doesn't have too bad a little backup there with Bobby Hess. We're going to be giving him some reps, too."

The Vikings scored on a Williams-to-Rogers 30-yard pass play with 3:43 left in the half. With a 40-point lead the clock continues to run, and a lot of Vikings saw playing time in the second half.

The Royals spoiled the shutout with a hook-and-ladder touchdown with 3:47 remaining, but Hess came right back with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to finish the scoring.

At 7-2, how does Wicinski feel about his team's progress as the Vikings enter the playoffs?

"Extremely pleased," he said. "Considering what a fine line it is between winning and losing, we could easily be sitting at 2-7. So I'm extremely happy about that, I'm proud of the kids. As of now, (it's) winner moves on, loser goes home."

Score by quarter

• Geneva:22-21-0-7—50
• South Elgin: 0-0-0-6—6

FIRST HALF Rushing
(We'll add more later, after the Herreras get home.) 

• #6  Parker Woodworth—65 yards, 7 carries, 4 TDs
• #12  Matt Williams— 76 yards, 5 carries
• #32 Bobby Hess— 61 yards, 3 carries
• #33  Ben Herrera — 6 yards, 2 carries

FIRST HALF Passing

• #12  Matt Williams — 5-of-6 for 117 yards, 1 TD

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