KERRY BARBOZA Sports Editor
For the second consecutive season Geneva School of Boerne advances to the second round of the TAPPS football playoffs and for the second straight year, the Eagles face Cypress Christian.
This year’s contest takes place in Giddings Thursday, 7 p.m.
Geneva head coach Grant Gaston wasn’t with the program last year, but he said they are not taking the “revenge” angle as they head into Thursday’s contest. He said they’re only focused on this year.
“I don’t think there is any revenge factor at play. We respect Cypress Christian, their coaches, and the program they are running,” he said. “For us, it’s just stepping up to the next challenge – will we continue to ‘level up’ as we have most of the season?”
The Eagles are coming off a 31-14 win over Brentwood Christian in the opening round of the playoffs last Friday at home in Boerne.
It was their second meeting this year and the Eagles took both of them. In their non-district game vs. Brentwood held Oct. 5, Geneva won.
Geneva’s defense gave up 43 in their first meeting but only yielded 14 last Friday, a difference of 29 points, or four touchdowns.
So, what was the key to the Eagles’ defensive performance?
“Our guys were fired up this against Brentwood and played fast and physical,” Gaston said. “We were bolstered by the return of Jake Plesko, who is the heart and soul of our defense.”
Geneva and Cypress Christian both beat Brentwood and Milano in the regular season, but Gaston said it’s hard to draw conclusions when you compare mutual opponents.
“I don’t think there is much to be gained by comparing scores as each game has a life of its own,” he said.
Also, if starting players are injured and missing in those games, that could affect the outcome as well.
In last Friday’s game, the Eagles did a lot of damage on the ground as they collectively rushed for 344 yards. Geneva QB Jacob Rosenstiel led the ground attack with 266 yards on 29 carries, while K.P. Fitzgerald added 75 rushing yards on 16 totes and Noah Brunsvold tallied 5 caries as the Eagles ran with the ball 50 times.
Rosenstiel went to the air 30 times and completed 21 passes for 156 yards and 2 scores.
Fitzgerald led the Eagles in receiving with 86 yards on 9 catches, JonMichael Raimondo hauled in 3 passes for 10 yards and a touchdown, while Brady Chandler, Brunsvold, Reid Aderholt and Caleb Quitadamo all snagged passes in the game.
Last year Cypress Christian went four rounds deep into the playoffs and lost in the state championship game. They enter Thursday’s contest at 7-3 overall, while the Eagles are 7-4.
Gaston said he knows the Houston school is going to play them tough and added that they need to slow down the run game.
“Cypress is big and deep,” he said. “They have 18 seniors with a lot of experience. Cypress runs the ball very well.”
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