BRUNSWICK — It was the biggest test of the season, and from the opening drive, the Cony football team aced the challenge.

Behind quarterback Riley Geyer, a balanced offensive effort and another outstanding performance from their defense, the Rams wrapped up a first-round bye in the Class B North playoffs by defeating Brunswick, 30-6.

“It was a great effort,” Coach B.L. Lippert said. “Our defense, they got after it. Our front eight are really, really good, the defensive backs came up and tackled when they had to. It was kind of a classic defensive performance.”

Cony improved to 7-1 and will be either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed for the playoffs. Brunswick, which would have taken the top seed with a win, fell to 5-3 and will be the No. 3 seed.

The Dragons were averaging more than 8 yards per carry entering the game, but they were held to 87 yards on 32 carries by Cony’s sturdy front.

“That’s a very talented team that we were able to slow down tonight,” Lippert said.

After the game, Brunswick Coach Dan Cooper was only able to tip his cap and shake his head.

“Their line play on both sides of the ball was amazing,” he said. “Their offensive line, we had a hard time stopping basic runs, quarterback run. But their defense, I knew they were a really good bunch, but they were even better than I thought. They were amazing.”

Meanwhile, Cony was able to gash the Dragons repeatedly. Geyer ran 22 times for 110 yards and two touchdowns. Jamal Cariglia added 10 carries for 67 yards, and Ashton Cunningham had eight carries for 49 yards.

“To be honest, I wasn’t ready to run that much,” Geyer said. “We were talking about how we were going to run, but definitely, our line, they’re pretty good. … They created a lot of room for me and my running backs.”

The Rams struck first. Cony turned the ball over on downs deep in Brunswick territory on its first drive, but Jonny Hanson intercepted Dragons quarterback Nate Girardin to set up the Rams up at the Brunswick 39. Geyer (11 of 24, 136 yards, one touchdown) finished the drive with a 9-yard run.

After a pair of personal fouls pushed the Dragons back to their own 5, a horde of Rams sacked Girardin in the end zone for a safety and a 9-0 advantage.

Cony’s offense used trickery – and a little bit of luck – to strike again in the second quarter. The Rams were facing third-and-goal from the 14 when Geyer threw back to Reed Hopkins, who then lobbed a pass into the end zone toward Cunningham, who was double covered. The Cony running back timed his jump well, however, and made the catch.

Brunswick found a rhythm on its last drive of the half. Girardin ran 25 yards, and a personal foul on Cony put the ball at the Rams 24. Six plays later, Cam Hathaway dashed in from the 4 to cut the deficit to 16-6.

“I felt we could hang around,” Cooper said. “But we just couldn’t move the ball. They were so good on defense.”

Cony put the game out of reach in the second half. Geyer threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Hopkins (five catches, 56 yards), then clinched the win with a 32-yard run with 4:31 left.

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