By JAY SCHWAB - jschwab@kcchronicle.com
PREP ZONE: Friendship, not football, hits center stage in opener
ST. CHARLES – If you were looking for the moment Mike Fields’ deep Geneva ties took a permanent turn, it came with about 2 minutes, 30 seconds left in the third quarter.
That’s when the Geneva football team successfully faked a punt to keep a third quarter drive chugging and delivered the former Vikings assistant-turned-St. Charles East-head coach a swift kick to the gut.
It was hardly dirty pool but nonetheless supplied final evidence that, while Fields might still live in Geneva, he better beware of the Vikings from now on.
“That was our defensive miscue,” Fields said. “I give [Geneva] credit for seeing it. We didn’t have a cornerback out there covering it.”
The Vikings didn’t score on that drive but chewed additional clock in what turned out to be a grind-’em-out, 13-6 win to spoil Fields’ debut as East coach.
The game promised to put both coaches through the emotional wringer, and delivered from the get-go. That’s when Geneva’s Nolan Block wound up on the Saints’ sideline while pursuing a tackle out of bounds, and was greeted with a friendly slap on the back from Fields, who spent the past decade as an assistant in Geneva’s program.
It was the first of many tender gestures – by football standards, that is – exhibited by Fields to his former Geneva players. The night ended with Fields lingering on the field for several minutes, chatting with Geneva players, and started with a friendly pregame huddle between Fields and his former boss, Vikings coach Rob Wicinski.
There was no question the Vikings’ usual bad blood for the opponent was watered down on this night. Not enough, though, to keep Geneva from a businesslike, victorious effort.
“We all really like coach Fields but when business comes down to it we knew we had to come out like any other game and just play our game,” said Geneva linebacker Bret Shannon, part of an excellent defensive effort for the visitors. “We all respect him but it’s still the other team and we’ve got to win.”
Geneva makes a habit of doing just that, and survived the opener despite breaking in an entire new group of offensive starters, except for quarterback Brandon Beitzel, plus seven new defensive starters.
Wicinski was relieved his team survived what he called “growing pains” in the aftermath of a 13-1 season.
“The good thing about this first game is we get a second game,” Wicinski said. “That’s where we’ve got to make some hay and make some progress going forward. ... Now it’s time to coach.”
Fields and Wicinski offered different responses afterward about their new rivalry that will continue as Geneva moves to the Upstate Eight Conference next year.
“I’ll remember it always,” Fields said of his first go-around against the Vikings. “I look forward to them joining the Upstate Eight, and we can have some more battles down the road.”
Wicinski, meanwhile, sounded like he’d rather have to devise a game plan to stop championship game nemesis East St. Louis then be forced to face Fields-led East again.
“I’m not looking forward to playing them next year or the year after or the year after,” Wicinski said. “It’s a big relief. It’s now get all the clutter out, and we just get down to football business.”
That’ll be a welcome change after a season opener in which friendship, not football, took prime billing.
At least until that fake punt.