Geneseo, Metamora bring history into 4A title game
Between them they have five state championships and nine runner-up finishes. On Friday, two of the state’s storied football programs at Metamora and Geneseo will meet to decide another state champion in the 4A finals at Memorial Stadium in Champaign.
They do have a history, and for a while, it all belonged to Geneseo.
The Maple Leafs were not kind to the Redbirds in their early meetings, beating them in the 1976 (20-12) and 1977 (34-0) title games as well as opening round play in 1990 (34-7).
Metamora notched its only playoff win over Geneseo in the 2000 4A quarterfinals on the way to a second-place finish.
Geneseo comes in 11-2, having defeated Mendota 17-9 in the quarterfinals and Richmond-Burton 24-20 in last week’s semifinals. The four-time state champion Maple Leafs make their first title appearance since 1993.
Pat Ryan’s Metamora Redbirds are making their third straight title game appearance, seeking their second title. Metamora is 12-1 after last week’s thrilling 41-40 win over Rochester.
• State champions re-union: Of the 16 teams assembling to Memorial Stadium this weekend, 11 are past champions. They have 37 state titles between them, since the playoffs were instituted in 1974.
Joliet Catholic heads the list with 13 titles followed by Providence Catholic (9). Other returning former state champions include Geneseo (4), Maine South (3), Stillman Valley (3), Tuscola (1), Maroa-Forsyth (1), Montini (1), Wheaton Warrenville South (1) and Glenbard West (1).
• All-state honors: Bureau Valley senior Michael Weidner received all-state recognition when he was named to the Class 3A All-state team by the Illinois Football Coaches Association.
Amboy/LaMoille running back Cody Richardson was named to the 3A squad and Mendota back Kurtis Knapp picked up 4A honors.
• The rising sons: Geneseo junior nose guard Ryan Patterson is a chip off the old block. He is the son of former Princeton Tiger standout Jeff Patterson, also a nose guard.
“He was a nose guard for us and how many years later, his son’s a nose guard at Geneseo. We had two great games with Geneseo when Jeff played,” former PHS coach Randy Swinford said.
Jeff Patterson, now an Illinois State Police commander, was part of PHS’ famed “Bermuda Triangle,” including Eric Foresman, who played at Illinois, and Todd Hedgespeth, who played at Iowa. Patterson was an all-American at Western Illinois.
Another rising son is Stillman Valley senior Ryan Prusator, the place-kicker for the Cardinals’ 3A finalist. He is the son of former Tiskilwa Indian Bob Prusator Jr., the Stillman Valley superintendent. Prusator has made 35 of 42 PAT attempts with a field goal.
The Cardinals will be facing Tolono Unity, which makes its first trip back to the state finals since losing to Bureau Valley in 2005.
• Head start: Kewanee will be joining the Big Rivers Conference in 2010, and Boilers coach Chris Waca is already getting a head start. He has scouted Bureau Valley, Amboy/LaMoille and Morrison in the playoffs and will watch the Mustangs again in Champaign. He also took in the Fulton-St. Bede game in Week 8.
Waca, a member of Princeton’s 1989 state runners-up, says he goes “just to see the atmosphere at the school,” and see what juniors and sophomores they have returning for next year and what their roles on the team, and line play on both offense and defense.”
The Mustangs will be playing for their first state crown in their first title game appearance when they face 2006 2A champ Maroa-Forsyth.
• 2010 newcomers: Princeton will be playing three new opponents in 2010. Monmouth-Rose-ville replaces Rockridge in Week 1, 2A semifinalist Lena-Winslow fills in Kewanee’s slot in the NCIC schedule for Week 5 for nonconference and Stanford Olympia replaces Orion in Week 9.
Hall will open with four new foes — Winnebago (replacing Stillman Val-ley), Momence (Rock-ridge), Lake Forest Academy (Quincy Notre Dame) and Mt. Carmel (Kewanee) and close with Eureka (St. Thomas More).
