Geneva took advantage of seven St. Charles East turnovers and eventually wore down a talented Saints defense for a 34-7 victory Friday night at Burgess Field.

The first big moment came on the game’s first drive when Saints senior Wes Allen was closing in on what would’ve been a 28-yard touchdown run. He lost a handle on the ball, which tumbled into the end zone. Senior Philip Birschbach recovered the fumble.

It was still scoreless when Vikings senior Sean Grady returned an interception 72 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter.

Late in the quarter, Grady tipped a pass and Michael Santacaterina came down with it at the St. Charles East 27-yard line. Five plays later, a 1-yard Michael Ratay run helped make it 13-0 Geneva at the half.

St. Charles East (1-1) seemed to be in position for a comeback on the third play of the third quarter when Matthew Payne intercepted a tipped pass to give the Saints the ball at the Geneva 37 but they turned it over on downs.

Ratay, held to 43 yards on 12 carries in the first half, finished with 141 yards on 27 carries. He would score from 13 yards out in the final seconds of the third to give Geneva (2-0) a 20-0 lead.

He would score from 5 yards out to make the margin 27-0 early in the fourth before St. Charles East senior Kyle Wiebe finally put his team on the board with his 4-yard run with 6:28 remaining.

The final points came with 19.9 seconds on the clock after Grady went end zone to end zone with his second interception return of the night.

“When we continuously put the defense back on the field, they’re going to wear down,” said St. Charles East head coach Ted Monken. “We feel like we gave it away.”

Game breakdown
SCORE BY QUARTER    1    2    3    4
St. Charles East    0    0    0    7
Geneva    0    13    7    14
2ND QUARTER: GEN Sean Grady 72-yard interception return (kick blocked), 11:47; Michael Ratay 1-yard run (Grady kick), 1:40.
3RD QUARTER: GEN Ratay 13-yard run (Grady kick), 20.5.
4TH QUARTER: GEN Ratay 5-yard run (Grady kick); SCE Kyle Wiebe 4-yard run (Daniel Keller kick), 6:28; Grady 96-yard interception return (Charlie James kick), 24.8.
PASSING: SCE Tim Russell 12-28, 130 yards, 3 INT; Dan White 0-0, 0 yards; GEN Brandon Beitzel 3-8, 37 yards, INT; Grady 0-1, 0 yards.
RUSHING: SCE Wes Allen 28 carries, 120 yards; Wieber 6 carries, 12 yards; White 3 carries, 7 yards; GEN Ratay 27 carries, 141 yards, 3 TDs; Drew Fagot 10 carries, 36 yards; Beitzel 3 carries, 5 yards.
RECEIVING: SCE Tyler Nutting 7 catches, 86 yards; Wiebe 2 catches, 19 yards; Paul De Bord 2 catches, 15 yards; Nolan Possley 1 catch, 10 yards; GEN Jason Holmes 2 catches, 37 yards; Brennan Quinn 1 catch, 0 yards.
DEFENSE: SCE Jonathan Voytilla and Joshua Spudich, sack for 10-yard loss; Pat Friel tackle for no gain; Taylor Heavington blocked kick; Matthew Payne interception; Jeff Marsh and Friel, tackle for 2-yard loss; Michael Fitzpatrick fumble recovery; GEN Philip Birschbach fumble recovery in end zone; Grady 72-yard interception return for TD, 96-yard interception return for TD, batted ball; Michael Santacaterina interception; Quinn and Andrew Clausen tackle for 2-yard loss, tackle for no gain, tackle for 4-yard loss; Bryan Kenney fumble recovery; Joshua Brown and Cory Hofstetter tackle for 1-yard loss; Bret Shannon pass broken up; Trey Hemming tackle for 1-yard loss.