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Geneva puts faith in QB Beitzel to keep defenses honest

GENEVA -- Geneva coach Rob Wicinski has plenty of experience working new starting quarterbacks into his system without the program missing a beat.

The most recent high-profile example is Shaun Ratay, who led the Vikings to a state semifinal appearance in his senior season of 2006.

So Wicinski knew not to expect the sky from junior signal caller Brandon Beitzel early on this season.

"I just know it's a process," Wicinski said. "In the summer, it's so much different to when you finally get pads on. You just don't feel the intensity. I felt confident that he could do it, and it was just a matter of time."

Now staring down their third semifinal game in five years, set for 7 p.m. today against Crystal Lake South at Burgess Field, the Vikings have full confidence in Beitzel, who has come on as of late.

After starting with nine interceptions and only four touchdowns through seven games, Beitzel has been on fire in his last five outings. He has completed 35 of 54 passes for 582 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions.

"I forgot about everything that happened, the nine interceptions," he said. "All my buddies on the team just told me to have fun. Every time (running back Michael Ratay) would score, I'd hold the extra point for Sean (Grady), and he'd ask me if I was having fun, and every answer was, 'No' -- up until the Rolling Meadows game (the playoff opener). I looked at Sean and told him I was having fun and it went from there."

Beitzel did have a solid debut against Dundee-Crown, going 8-for-10 for 134 yards and a score with no interceptions. But he completed only 11 of 31 attempts for 108 yards and four interceptions in his next three games before finally admitting he needed that time to get comfortable under center. What followed was a 9-for-15 performance with two touchdowns in a 45-21 win over Sycamore.

But Wicinski sensed that was coming in the weeks leading up to that game.

"I thought he was coming around a little earlier than Sycamore, but where I really see it is in his practices," Wicinski said. "I really started to see it then. He just really progressed nice."

Helping Beitzel's maturation is the play of Ratay, who has run for a mind-boggling 2,608 yards and 41 touchdowns. Beitzel knew he would not have to shoulder the load, and that helped him ease into the position.

"Passing will be the secondary thing," he said. "Let the horse do his thing and follow him. It helped a lot. Having a running back like him and a line like we have and a defense like we have, it's just a great package. It's more than you could ask for."

Beitzel has progressed to the point where he had his finest performance of the season at the best possible time -- Saturday's 35-21 quarterfinal win over Carmel that helped the Vikings move into tonight's game.

Beitzel went 11-for-17 -- his most completions in a game this season -- for 135 yards and a score, adding a touchdown and two critical short-yardage first downs on the ground.

"I thought he played great," receiver Jason Holmes said. "We were all nervous because it was such a big game. We knew we had to throw in the playoffs. It's good to see that he's doing it. When he gets the ball out fast and lets us make the plays, he thrives. He's better than I would ever expect a junior to be."

Now the Vikings have shown that more people than Ratay can win a game, a crucial wrinkle when a team gets to its 13th contest and opponents have plenty of film on them.

"He's ready to go even further," Wicinski said. "He's very confident. He comes with skills. It was just a matter of getting mentally right. He's got a strong arm, a big body, a good football IQ, works hard and wants to do well. If it gets into a scenario where we have to start launching it up, we feel very confident."

THE CLASS 7A RUNDOWN:
Geneva (12-0) vs. Crystal Lake South (10-2)

7 p.m. today

Nicknames: Vikings; Gators.

Playoff history: Geneva is 25-10 and was a Class 6A semifinalist in 2006 and 2004; Crystal Lake South is 18-13.

When Geneva has the ball: Junior QB Brandon Beitzel took a step forward last week by completing a handful of sharp slants off play-action, which kept an aggressive Carmel defense honest. He also executed several screen passes and seemed to gain confidence after a slow start. His continued progression is important as the Gators sold out on the run last week to stop Cary-Grove's top running back. That said, if Geneva RB Michael Ratay could gain nearly 200 yards against Carmel, odds are he'll get close to that number this week. But it will take a supreme effort -- Cary-Grove averaged fewer than 2 yards per carry last week against the Gators.

When Crystal Lake South has the ball: All eyes should be on QB Drew Ormseth and RB Colin Masterson. They are the keys to this game for the Gators. Masterson has 1,014 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns while Ormseth has passed for 1,242 yards and 15 scores. The sophomore has thrown 11 interceptions, however, so the Vikings will try to get after him and force some throws. The Gators will try to stay balanced as the Vikings do an excellent job of making teams one-dimensional.

Record watch: Tonight is a must-see game for those who have not seen Ratay run. The senior is five touchdowns away from setting the single-season IHSA record and he has put together one of the more impressive seasons ever by a high school running back in Illinois. He is ranked in the top 15 in eight categories, which is no small feat in this state.

Prediction: Geneva 35, Crystal Lake South 14.