CARTERVILLE-  The #1-seeded Carterville Lions faced #16 Geneseo this past Saturday, October 29. The Lions played a great game on both sides of the ball. The Lion defense held Geneseo to only one touchdown and recovered a fumble for a touchdown, while the offense would score three rushing touchdowns, all by running-back Bryce Smith, and one passing touchdown caught by Peyton Bittle.

1st Quarter – Geneseo won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball first. The Lions defense would struggle with several defensive penalties. However, they would stop Geneseo on a fourth down conversion attempt. On the Lions first offensive drive, quarterback Andrew Hellriegel threw a touchdown pass to Bittle, followed by a successful 2 point conversion by running-back Bryce Smith to put the Lions up 8-0.

2nd Quarter – On the Lions second defensive drive, defensive end Talon Walker blocked a pass on a fourth down to give the ball to the Lions offense. Both teams traded punts, draining time in the second quarter. On the Geneseo’s fourth offensive drive, cornerback Nolan Hartford recovered a fumble for a touchdown followed by a Riley Crain extra point to put the Lions up 15-0. Geneseo would score on the next drive making the score 15-7 before halftime, however this would be the only points scored by Geneseo this game.

3rd Quarter – The Lions received the ball to begin the third quarter. The offensive drive resulted in a touchdown by Smith followed by an extra point by Crain to put the Lions up 22-7. Geneseo would then throw an interception to Bittle, on their first offensive drive of the second half. The Lions took advantage of the interception with Smith rushing in another touchdown to put the Lions up 29-7. Both teams would trade punts to end the third quarter.

4th Quarter – The Lions received the ball from a Geneseo punt to start the fourth quarter drive resulting in Smith rushing for his third touchdown of the day, drawing the score up 36-7. This is the final score as both teams would trade punts to drain the fourth quarter.

Carterville advanced to the second round with this win, and they will be hosting #8 Coal City at home this Saturday, November 5, at 1:oo p.m.