Senior Quarterback J.D. Geneva Has Found a Home at Union; Expects to Contend for Title

By Mike Moguin
GTR Sports Writer

The experience playing at Union has been special for senior quarterback J.D. Geneva.
“It’s really nice,” he said. “It’s one of the biggest schools in the state. Great facilities, great teachers, just a great student atmosphere. I’m really enjoying it.”
Geneva came to Union halfway through his junior year when his family moved from Coweta.
He said that the game of football teaches you that every time you get down, you have to get back up and that’s what he likes about it.
“It’s all about moving forward and focusing on the goal at hand and being quarterback is about leading your team and getting all the troops together and having their back and them having yours, and going to that state championship and winning the game,” Geneva said.
The key to being a successful quarterback is knowing what everyone is doing on every single play, he said. “You have to know what your job is and what your responsibility is. Take what the defense gives you and do the best you can with the ability you have,” Geneva added.
He likes the fact that he gets to join the ranks of Union quarterbacks in the program’s past.
“It’s really cool being able to play in this atmosphere and the highest level of football that you can in Oklahoma,” Geneva said.
No quarterback wants to get sacked. But, when it happens, “You just have to do with the best you’ve got and make sure you don’t turn the ball over and get to the next play,” Geneva said. “Blindsided sacks are pretty tough because you don’t see them coming. You just have to get up, dust yourself off and get back up on the horse.”
Favorite NFL quarterbacks of Geneva’s are Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers and Tom Brady of the New England Patriots
“I really like the way they command the field. They’re overall solid players,” he said.
As for the potential of this year’s Redskin squad, Geneva is high on it.
“We have some great talent on our team,” he said. “A.J. Green at running back, Gabe Cantu at center and Jake Henry at left tackle and so many other guys on our defense too that are good playmakers. If we just keep growing as a team like we’re planning to and stick with the process, I think we’ll be a state championship contender.”
And he likes taking snaps from Cantu, a Tulsa commit.
“It’s easy,” Geneva said. “He puts it on the money and he just goes to work.”
Union did not start the season the way it liked when it dropped its first two games, including one in a 14-0 shut out at home to rival Broken Arrow.
“Obviously, that’s not ideal,” Geneva said. “We want to win every game. We put ourselves in a position to do so in each game.”
The Redskins (1-2 going into District 6AI-2 play) bounced back the next week with a 35-20 win over Jenks, another rival.
“We’re just growing as a team and we’re getting better each and every week. Last week (Sept. 13) we just got it all together and played together as a team,” Geneva said.
“We just made sure we were practicing as hard as our coaches wanted to, going full speed and coming out on top,” he added.
Union was to open district play Sept. 27 at Owasso. The remainder of its 2019 schedule consists of hosting Mustang (Oct. 4), playing at Putnam CIty North (Oct. 11), host back-to-back games against Moore (Oct. 17) and Norman North (Oct. 25), then plays at Southmoore (Nov. 1) and Edmond North (Nov. 8).