Flying high for most of the 2025 season, the Macomb High Bomber football squad was done in by the Geneseo Green Machine Saturday afternoon.
Squaring off in an Illinois High School Association Class 4A second round playoff contest, visiting Geneseo controlled play on both sides of the ball in rolling to a 29-0 victory over the Bombers at MHS Stadium.
Both teams saw their respective records move to 9-2 on the season. But Geneseo moves on to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2015 while the season ends for Macomb.
“We knew it was going to be tough,” said MHS coach Tanner Horrell. “But they’re a really good football team.”
Macomb won the coin toss, but deferred, giving the Maple Leafs the first possession.
Geneseo took full advantage, covering 63 yards in 13 plays in a drive that lasted nearly six minutes.
Quarterback Jackson McAvoy capped the drive with an eight-yard run for the game’s first score. Carson Peters booted the point-after-touchdown kick to give the visitors a 7-0 lead at the 6:14 mark of the opening period.
The drive was also costly for the Bombers as lineman Sam Potter suffered an ankle injury that forced him to miss the remainder of the contest.
An early gamble for Macomb on its first possession came up empty with a turnover on downs.
Facing a fourth-and-1 from its own 36, Macomb went for the first down. But fullback Jeshua McPheeters was stuffed for a two-yard loss, giving Geneseo the ball at the Bomber 34.
The Green Machine offense wasted little time as McAvoy went to the air, connecting with Kye Weinzierl for a 34-yard score.
The pass went over the outstretched arm of Bomber defender Nolan Hoge to Weinzierl, who caught the ball at the 10-yard line, spun to his right, and ran into the end zone for the score.
Peters added the PAT and Geneseo led 14-0 with 3:51 left in the first quarter.
“That was what we were looking to do when we came down here,” said Geneseo coach Matt Furlong. “Move the ball on the ground offensively and we hit some things in the pass game when it was available.”
Macomb went three-andout on its next possession with Hayden Katz’s punt getting blocked. That gave the Green Machine the ball at the Bomber 30.
A 16-yard run by Harrison Hill moved the ball to the MHS 14. But unsportsmanlike conduct and holding penalties on consecutive plays pushed the Maple Leafs back.
Will Thomas sacked McAvoy for a five-yard loss and Geneseo eventually faced a fourth-and-36 and punted.
“To get down 14-0 early was really tough,” said Horrell. “But our kids really battled.”
Meanwhile, the Bomber offense continued to struggle, recording just three first downs. But when halftime arrived, MHS was still in contention down 14-0.
“Our kids never gave up.” said Horrell. “They dug in and made a couple of stops, but we just missed on a couple of opportunities on offense.”
“It was really tough to move the ball on them,” he added. “They’re a really good defense.”
On its opening drive of the second half, Macomb used a 24-yard pass from QB Kaden Knupp to Carter Havens and a pair of Drake May runs to reach Geneseo territory.
But the Bombers were forced to punt, giving Geneseo the ball at its own 24.
The Green Machine then drove 76 yards in 10 plays. McAvoy scored from four yards out and added the two-point conversion run that pushed the lead to 22-0 at the 5:13 mark.
“Getting off to a good start was key,” said Furlong. “I wish we would’ve sustained some drives better in the first half. We had some points we felt we left on the field.”
“But we did a nice job of coming right back out in the third quarter and got back to it.”
Geneseo’s final score came with 7:34 remaining on a one-yard run by McAvoy and a Peters PAT.
The score capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive that used nearly five minutes of the game clock.
The Bombers finished with 140 yards of total offense.
“That’s football,” said Horrell. “Last week we made some of those plays and this week we just missed on a few plays. You’ve got to live with it.”
Macomb recorded 62 yards rushing on 24 carries.
May finished with 44 yards on 13 carries, while Havens added 31 yards on five carries.
Knupp finished 6-of-17 passing for 74 yards. Drew Watson had five catches for 50 yards.
“On our side, we just struggled to move the ball,” said Horrell. “Sam (Potter) going down early hurt, but I thought Conway (Van Fleet) did a good job coming in and filling in for him.”
“Defensively, it was controlling the run,” Furlong said. “We knew they were gong to take some shots downfield. They hit a couple, but as long as we could control what they were doing in the run game, we felt we could perform defensively.”
Defensively for MHS, May finished with 20 total tackles, while Drake Taber added 12.
Kyler Norton was next with nine total tackles, followed by Hoge (eight), McPheeters (eight), Cameron Keene (seven), Blaze Howell (six) and Havens (six).
Hoge forced two fumbles, one being recovered by Norton.
“I was really proud of our guys’ effort,” said Horrell.
Geneseo recorded 352 yards rushing on 61 carries.
Mark Nelms had 149 yards on 22 carries, while McAvoy added 110 yards and three scores on 25 carries.
Hill chipped in 78 yards on seven carries.
“Their backs do a really good job of falling forward,” said Horrell. “I felt like we might stop them and then they fall forward for another yard or two.”
“With that offense, that’s everything,” he added. “They’re trying to get three yards and sustain drives. We had a couple times where it was third-and-short or fourth-and-short and they pick (the first down) up.”
“I think the last two weeks and in that in the Farmington game the difference was speed,” said Horrell. “They flew and closed space when we had the ball. That’s something that we’re going to have to learn from and figure out how to scheme and get better against those teams that can fly around.”
McAvoy was also 3-of-4 passing for 58 yards with Weinzierl recording two grabs for 44 yards.
For the returning underclassmen, Horrell noted that this year’s experience will be very beneficial.
“I hate it for Drew, Nolan, Cass (Harrison), Conway and Camren (Singleton),” said Horrell of the departing seniors. “But the experience our young guys got this year to learn from those seniors and see what it took to get nine wins, I think will be super-valuable going forward.”
Geneseo returns home next week to face No. 2 seed Morris (10-1).
Morris defeated Metamora 64-50 in reaching the quarterfinals.
“Any time you can get to the quarterfinals, that’s a great season,” said Furlong. “We’re certainly moving in the right direction. We talked to (the players) after the game. We feel like we haven’t hit our peak yet. We haven’t played our best game yet. Hopefully we do that next week.”
“It’s not always the prettiest,” he added. “There’s always some things here and there. But at the end of the day, it’s all about winning.”
