More than a decade of frustration is over for Joseph Pettit, his teammates and his town.
Geneva ended a 13-game losing streak to Batavia in a rivalry that dates back to 1912, surging ahead in the second half behind the passing of Anthony Chahino and the running of Michael Rumoro to win 30-7 Friday before a standing room-only crowd in Batavia.
Chahino threw for 176 yards and four touchdowns, including three after halftime to Finnegan Weppner. Rumoro ran 23 times for 175 yards and No. 19 Geneva (6-0, 4-0) took over sole possession of the DuKane lead.
“That was bigger than a football game,” said Pettit, a senior two-way starting lineman. “And it was for sure the biggest game of my life. Just being able to make the town proud and make a difference for all those kids looking at us and just inspiring them to know that they can be great, too — just changing the program.”
The focal point for Geneva’s offense this year — and for opposing defenses — has been Georgia commit Talyn Taylor, who caught Chahino’s first touchdown pass and finished with eight catches for 55 yards.
But Weppner stepped up to catch four passes for 42 yards and sophomore Bennett Konkey had four receptions for 86 yards to help the Vikings pull away from a 7-7 halftime tie. Chahino finished 16 of 29 for 183 yards with no interceptions.
“Michael Rumoro is the reason the pass game opened up,” Chahino said. “I’ve been telling him all day, ‘This game relies on you.'”
No. 5 Batavia (5-1, 3-1) ended the first half by scoring on a flea flicker from receiver Isaiah Brown to quarterback Bodi Anderson. But Geneva coach Boone Thorgesen wanted to make sure that didn’t deflate his team.
His halftime message: “We’re not going to come out on our heels. We’re not going to say we shouldn’t be in this position. We have a right to be in this position and we’re going to come out with the best half we’ve ever had.
“And we came out with our tails on fire.”
In a span of less than six minutes, Geneva ran off 16 straight points — a go-ahead 37-yard field goal by Jayden Hodgdon and two Chahino-to-Weppner RD passes — to open a 23-7 lead. Mixed in was Batavia failing to cover the kickoff after the field goal, setting Geneva up at the Bulldogs’ 20, and a three-and-out forced by the Vikings’ defense.
“Coming on their home field, we knew they wanted to out-physical us,” Pettit said. “And if we took that away from them, they were nothing.”
Thorgesen took over the program in 2021 and has led the Vikings to three consecutive IHSA playoff berths. But he might not have had a bigger win than his first in this rivalry.
“I’ve got great kids and they took it on the chin for a long time,” he said. “This game meant a lot to them. Kids crying, overjoyed with emotion, cannot talk. We’ve lost 13 [straight] times in the biggest rivalry. And we hear about it a lot.
“So to see them compete and perform — I’m so happy for them.”
On the other side, Batavia coach Dennis Piron lost in the rivalry for the first time. Senior back Nathan Whitwell, who had 923 yards and 15 touchdowns in the first five weeks, finished with 15 carries for 33 yards. Anderson finished 14 of 25 for 114 yards with one interception. The Batavia defense had a setback early when lineman Malachi Smith left the game with an elbow injury and didn’t return.
“That’s a very good football team that Geneva has,” Piron said. “And we really made some critical errors, did some things that were not something that we typically have happen.”