Mendota’s Mason DeFore (No. 7) and Chris Sandoval try to bring down Genoa-Kingston’s Hunter Zweifel on Sept. 14 at the MHS field. (Reporter photo)

MENDOTA – Versatility on offense is a luxury a football coach would love to have on any level of competition. Rarely do you see it in the high school ranks, but Genoa-Kingston is one of those exceptions.

The Cogs were able to mix up their attack with a myriad of plays, enough so as to keep the Mendota defense guessing. And in utilizing a number of different weapons, Genoa-Kingston was able to score in a variety of ways. The end result was a 42-6 triumph over the Trojans in a Big Northern Conference contest on Sept. 14 at the MHS field.

Seven different Cog players rushed the football to the tune of 281 yards, while they passed just enough (3 of 4 for 45 yards) to keep the Trojans off-balance. Meanwhile, it was another tough night on offense for the Trojans, who have been shutout or held to one touchdown in three of their four games. Mendota ended with 152 total yards and didn’t find the end zone until the waning seconds of the game.

It didn’t take long for Genoa-Kingston to get its offense in gear. The Trojans went three and out on the opening series of the game and the Cogs set up their first possession with excellent field position at the Mendota 46.

G-K’s first play from scrimmage was a 32-yard pass completion from quarterback Justin Peters to Hunter Zweifel that moved the ball to the Trojan 14. The Cogs had a touchdown run nullified by a holding penalty, but it was only a temporary setback. On a fourth-and-8 play, Peters hooked up with Nate Nesler for an 8-yard touchdown pass, followed by a PAT kick by Jaxon Blank to give G-K an early 7-0 lead.

After another Mendota punt, G-K took over at its own 25-yard line and advanced the ball all the way to the Trojan 10. That’s where Mendota’s defense stiffened and stopped the Cogs for no gain on a fourth-and-3 play.

Starting deep in its own territory, the Trojans elected to go up top to try to get out of the hole, but G-K’s Zweifel stepped in front of a Gavin Glazebrook pass and ran it back 24 yards for a touchdown at the 8:09 mark of the second period. The extra-point kick was blocked.

Mendota couldn’t generate anything on offense on its ensuing possession, so another punt allowed the Cogs to start their series at midfield. One minute and three plays later, G-K’s Brett Marth was in the end zone from 33 yards out. Blank converted the extra-point kick to make it 20-0 with 5:44 to go before intermission.

Another Mendota offensive possession stalled, and the Cogs had an excellent opportunity to pad their lead before the break when Mendota’s Edwin Angulo was only able to get off a 6-yard punt that allowed G-K to start its next drive at the Trojan 35. The Cogs got down to Mendota’s 4-yard line where the Trojan defense came up with a fourth-down stop and the half ended with G-K in front, 20-0.

The second half started like the first half ended, with the Trojans halting the G-K offense on a fourth-down play at the Mendota 18. But on the first play from scrimmage after the Trojan offense took over, Zweifel picked off another Glazebrook pass and returned the ball to the 6-yard line. The Cogs were only able to advance the ball 3 yards in three plays, but on fourth-and-3, G-K’s Will Franson darted into the end zone and Blank booted the extra-point kick to make it 27-0.

On Mendota’s next series, the Cogs came up with their third interception of the night when Chris Kleba swiped a Glazebrook offering at the G-K 14-yard line and ran it back 58 yards to the Mendota 28. Four plays later, Zweifel was in the end zone on a 6-yard TD run with 11 seconds left in the third quarter. Blank drilled home the PAT kick.

The Cogs completed their scoring with 6:48 left in the game on a 2-yard touchdown run by Jake Stojan. Kleba gathered in the two-point conversion pass from Nesler.

With the 40-point difference, the running clock kicked in for the final six-plus minutes of the game. The sense of urgency seemed to help Mendota’s offense as it put together its best drive of the game, using six minutes of the clock to go 65 yards in 11 plays. The capper was a 3-yard TD run by Angulo with 49 seconds left. The two-point run attempt was no good.

The Trojans (0-4, 0-4) picked up 102 of their yards on the ground, led by Gabe Guzman with 49 yards in 22 attempts. Angulo gained 43 yards in 12 tries. Glazebrook completed 12 passes for 50 yards. Brayden Northcutt caught five passes for 30 yards.