Ratay simply the man

GENEVA -- Soggy, wet and muddy probably aren't the first words a running back would like to use when describing field conditions.

But none of those adjectives seemed to stop Geneva's Michael Ratay on Friday evening at Burgess Field.

The senior running back carried 35 times for 310 yards and scored four touchdowns as Geneva beat Bradley-Bourbonnais 35-6 in a Class 7A playoff game.

"The offensive line stepped up, once again," said Ratay. "I didn't make a lot of cuts tonight. I got the ball a lot, too."

The Vikings will host a second round playoff game next weekend. Their opponent will be St. Charles East, a 31-6 winner over Granite City on Friday night.

Actually, Ratay's first half stat line could have been mistaken for a full game total. He carried 22 times for 194 yards as the Vikings scored twice in the first seven minutes.

Geneva (10-0) scored with just over three minutes gone after marching 66 yards in six plays. Drew Fagot had a 33-yard run during the drive, but Ratay did the rest. He capped the drive with his first touchdown run of the night. The 13-yard run came on an option play around the left end.

After forcing the first of eight punts by the Boilermakers, Geneva drove 80 yards on their next possession. Ratay opened the drive with a 70-yard run and then scored on an 11-yard run just two plays later.

Bradley (5-5) set up their only score with a blocked punt late in the first half. Quarterback Travis Moliga connected on a 17-yard strike to Jeff Bracken with only :05 remaining before halftime to make it 14-6.

"I felt like we let it slip away a little bit in the first half," said Geneva coach Rob Wicinski. "I thought we could have put a dagger in them."

Instead, the dagger didn't come until the fourth quarter when the Viking scored three touchdowns in just over a five-minute span.

After a personal foul on the Boilermakers for roughing the punter, Geneva was awarded a first down.

The Vikings then drove 61 yards over the next five plays. Ratay ran for 57 of the yards before quarterback Michael Mayszak hooked up with Jordan Boser on a four-yard touchdown pass.

An interception by Jake Conforti set up a 12-yard touchdown run by Ratay. A 29-yard run by Ratay with 3:22 left accounted for the final score.

"We came back in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter," said Ratay. "We know we have to be a fourth quarter team to win big games like this."

Not to be outdone, the Geneva defense was solid for most of the night. The Vikings held Bradley to only 86 yards on the ground. The Boilermakers operated out of a shot-gun formation for much of the night, but Moliga was only able to complete 6-of-20 passes for 36 yards.

Class 7A Playoffs: Geneva 35, Bradley-Bourbonnais 6