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player ready...Geneva’s comeback attempt in Friday’s nonconference game against Oswego at Burgess Field literally ran out of time.
The Vikings pulled within 44-42 with 2:40 left to play on Illinois commit Bennett Konkey’s fourth touchdown of the night — a leaping grab of Ben Peterson’s pass just inside the end zone.
Geneva (1-1) was unable to recover the ensuing onside kick but forced a three-and-out. Geneva let the clock run down to five seconds to call a timeout before Oswego (2-0) punted.
The clock restarted with Dustin King’s midfield boot. Geneva’s Tate Beran caught the ball near the 20-yard hash mark but was unable to run out of bounds before time expired.
“What a tremendous high school football game that was — back and forth and back and forth,” Geneva coach Boone Thorgesen said. “It was two great football teams battling and unfortunately they made a couple plays at the end. I was proud of our team and proud of our fight.”
The loss was the second in row for Geneva to the Panthers, the 2025 Class 8A state runner-up. Last year, Oswego prevailed 35-6 over the Vikings.
Both offenses dominated. Geneva rolled up 466 yards and crossed the goal line on six of its 10 possessions. Oswego finished seven of its 11 drives by scoring points and gained 483 yards.
Konkey finished with 11 catches for 264 yards. Peterson, an Eastern Michigan signee, completed 18 of 28 passes for 264 yards.
Senior tight end Ryan Wynn was the Panthers’ answer to Konkey. Three of the South Dakota State commit’s six receptions ended in the end zone. Wynn gained 149 yards. Drew Kleinhans completed 12 of 19 pass for 236 yards.
Oswego avoided sending the ball near the speedy Konkey on kickoffs to prevent a repeat of last week’s scoring on a return.
But Geneva did score again on its first play from scrimmage. Peterson’s first pass of the night was a shot to over the middle to Luke Ignoffo, who grabbed the ball and raced 72 yards for the TD.
“Second game in a row where we scored on the first play,” Thorgesen said. “I don’t know if it’s a thing that’s going to keep going, but it was a lot of fun.”
That TD was the Vikings’ only lead of the game. Oswego tied the game on its ensuing drive and pulled ahead in the second quarter for a 21-13 lead.
Jerry Birchfield is a freelance reporter for the Daily Herald.