Gavin Burt, who lives in Geneva, attended Marmion for his first three years of high school and also went through the summer program with new Cadets coach Adam Guerra.
The pull of playing one season for his hometown team, however, was too much for Burt to ignore.
Less than a week before the start of fall practice, the senior inside linebacker announced that he was transferring and moving over to play this season for the Vikings.
“It was a very hard decision,” Burt said. “I would stay up late at night being like, ‘What am I going to do?’ I’m now at Geneva. That was one of the hardest decisions I’ve made in a while.”
Burt, who is having a blast with friends he grew up with, has fit right into the middle of the defense for Geneva, which checks in at No. 3 in The Beacon-News/Courier-News preseason rankings.
In the past, Burt played in a 4-3 for the Cadets, but Guerra switched Marmion’s base defense this summer to the 3-4. That worked out well for Burt because Geneva runs a 3-4 as well.
“I love it so far,” Burt said. “It’s great to be here because it’s my hometown friends. It’s a great team. I’m excited to be a part of it and I just see us making it far this year.”
Geneva graduated a ton of defensive talent from last season, but with Sean Lane and Burt anchoring the middle of the field, the Vikings appear to be in good shape on that side of the ball.
“Watching this last week, he brings a skill set of physicality,” Geneva coach Boone Thorgesen said of Burt. “Being a big kid, he moves pretty well for his size.
“At inside linebacker, he fills a gap pretty hard and can go sideline to sideline. He has a lot of traits and skills that have made him successful. It’s good to see him out there and what he brings.”
Geneva defensive coordinator Tim Wolf noticed Burt’s size immediately. But Wolf, who has coached for over 20 years, also has been impressed by his new linebacker’s intelligence.
“He’s a smart kid,” Wolf said. “He has a very good football IQ. He comes from a very good, traditional program. It wasn’t hard for him to jump in here and get after it right away.
“I think he made a reasonable decision. It’s nice to see a kid come back to his home school.”
The Vikings have a tradition of strong play at linebacker over the past decade, but the stars weren’t always the biggest kids around.
That’s not the case this season, as the 6-foot-1, 220-pound Burt and the 5-11, 205-pound Lane patrol the middle.
“We’ve had good linebackers with really good football IQ, but where they lack is just that physical presence,” Wolf said. “Between him and Sean, we have two linebacker-looking linebackers. That was the eye test right away.”
Burt still has moments where it’s clear that he’s still getting up to speed. Wolf feels by the third or fourth week, things should become like second nature. What should Burt do in the meantime?
“Just go 100 miles an hour, man,” Wolf said.
Burt never had a problem doing that at Marmion. He was already being pursued by colleges before the transfer. He said interest is still gaining momentum as he learns about his new team.
He also said that once game time hits next week, he’ll be ready to show exactly what he can do.
“This senior year is all I’ve got,” Burt said. “I’m going to give my all. I already know my potential and this year is going to be great for me.”
Team: Geneva.
2023 record: 9-3.
Offensive leaders: Tony Chahino, senior, quarterback; Joe Pettit, senior, offensive lineman; Michael Rumoro, senior, running back; Finn Weppner, senior, wide receiver.
Defensive leaders: Rino Bianchi, senior, defensive lineman; Gavin Burt, senior, linebacker; Sean Lane, senior, linebacker; Dylan Reyes, junior, defensive back.
X-factor: Talyn Taylor, senior, wide receiver.
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
