Eagles bring back big road playoff win despite adversity

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In all his years at Geneva, whether as a head coach, an assistant, or player, Don Shymske said there weren’t too many bus rides home that could compare to the one he and his team had Friday night.

The Eagles defeated Alliance 46-12 in a Division III, Region 9 first-round playoff game at Kehres Stadium on the campus of Mount Union.

Shymske said the ride home was tiring, but joyful.

“I think we were all exhausted,” he said. “The kids were obviously happy, as were the coaches, but there was a lot of emotion put out on the field that night.”

Shymske called the win one of the greatest in Geneva school history.

Not only did the Eagles, as the 10th seed, go on the road and beat the No. 7 Aviators, they did so without two of their key players in Bryce Peet and Ricky DiPetta.

Both players left the game in the first half.

DiPetta suffered a severely sprained ankle and Peet an injured hamstring he suffered on a 43-yard pass reception in the second quarter.

The status of both players is unknown for the Eagles’ next postseason game, scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at No. 2 Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy.

For Geneva to step up amidst the absence of two key players made the win even more special to the coach.

“When you lose two guys, you’re losing four players, actually more,” Shymskie said. “Both guys play offense and defense, and they play on special teams.”

Peet and DiPetta are also the Eagles’ starting inside linebackers.

In their absence, other players stepped to the forefront.

With two of their stars out, quarterback Caden Proy and the defense rose to the occasion.

Proy rushed for 295 yards on 17 carries. He had a 66-yard touchdown scamper on the first play from scrimmage in the game.

One possession later, he ripped off a 47-yard run, then in the third quarter added one from 67 for another score.

While Proy shredded the Aviators’ defense, the Geneva defense was nearly as impressive.

They allowed the Alliance to march from its own 18 to the Geneva 2-yard line on its opening possession.

But on fourth and goal, the Eagles’ defense stopped Cayden Sanders a foot shy of the goal line, forcing the turnover on downs.

“That was huge,” Shymske said of the stop. “We settled into the pace of the game, and after the first series of the game, we settled in.

“After that, our offense drove down the field and scored, that’s complimentary football.”

Alliance quarterback JR Jackson entered the game averaging 235 passing yards per game on a 69% completion rate, to go along with 70 rushing per contest.

On Friday night, he was 21 of 37 for 213 yards with just 29 rushing.

He scored both Aviators’ touchdowns on runs.

But the Geneva defense sacked him five times and had nine quarterback hurries.

They also shut down the Alliance running attack.

Ravahan Hawkins, a 1,000-yard rusher during the regular season, had 76 on six carries, including 48 on one play.

What was even more impressive for the Eagles’ defense was that they had not faced an offense similar to that this season.

“There’s no way we can even simulate that in practice, you just have to know it and be aware of it, but I can’t credit our defensive line enough,” Shymske said. “Our defensive front was in the backfield all night.

“Our guys were constantly putting pressure on him, we were able to get to him several times. I think, while our secondary may have given up some yards, we were able to get to the kid, we got in his head, and I think we rattled him.”

Geneva will be back on the practice field today, getting ready for CVCA.

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