Geneva beats Bears in overtime thriller

Geneva beats Bears in overtime thriller

KERRY BARBOZA Sports Editor

Geneva School of Boerne closed out the non-district portion of its schedule Thursday against Brentwood Christian and it turned into a game that will certainly boost the team’s confidence when they open district play Oct. 20 at Corpus Christi John Paul II.

Geneva fell behind early and only had 7 points at halftime, but scored 42 second- half points on its way to a 49-43 overtime victory against the Bears.

Eagles coach Grant Gaston said it’s a great way to end non-district action.

“It’s good to have a great challenge like that leading right into a break,” he said. “One thing you can say about us all year regardless of the score is that we don’t quit.”

The Eagles were behind 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. Brentwood tallied two more TDs in the second period and took a 28-7 lead into halftime.

Jacob Rosenstiel hit K.P. Fitzgerald on a 12-yard touchdown pass in the second for Geneva’s only first-half points.

On their other eight firsthalf possessions, Geneva punted five times, had two interceptions and gave the ball back on loss of downs after they went for it on fourth down and didn’t convert.

Gaston gave credit to the Bears for taking them out of their offense but added that they made adjustments that paid off in the second half.

“They came out with a good defensive plan to stop what we like to do and they shut us down on our favorite stuff to do,” he said. “At halftime we made our adjustments and we did want to establish the run in the second half. It settled everybody down and once we did that, we were back to ourselves.”

Another thing the Eagles did was go to the short passing game and it worked after Geneva tallied 29 points in the third quarter and outscored the Bears 29-7.

Rosenstiel ran in two TDs and tossed touchdown passes to Fitzgerald and Brady Chandler in that third quarter.

Reid Wilson also had a fumble recovery in the third quarter that gave Geneva the ball at the Brentwood 5-yard line.

Rosenstiel carried it in from there and the third quarter ended with the Eagles up by a point, 36-35, thanks to a two-point conversion after a roughing the kicker penalty. Noah Brunsvold ran in the 2-point try.

Early in the fourth quarter, Brentwood retook the lead on a 31-yard TD pass and pulled ahead 43-36 after they also converted a 2-point try, but the Eagles answered later in the period after they put together a 75-yard drive capped by a Rosenstiel 19-yard run.

Walker Cone booted the extra point to tie it up at 43-43 and after the ensuing kickoff, the Bears were driving and reached the Geneva 22 but fumbled and Fitzgerald pounced on the loose ball to thwart Brentwood.

That basically sent it to overtime and once in OT, the Bears had the ball first and faced a 4th and 7. They opted to go for it instead of kicking a 40-yard field goal and didn’t get a first down.

It was Geneva’s turn with the ball and four plays into the drive, the Eagles had a 3rd and 1 at the Bears’ 4-yard line and that’s when Rosenstiel ran it in to end the game and give the home team the 49-43 win. They are 4-3.

Rosenstiel finished with 4 rushing and 3 passing touchdowns. It’s the second straight game where he’s had at least 3 passing and 3 rushing TDs.