Batavia Football Overpowers Larkin, Prepares For Bartlett

Batavia cruised past Larkin on Friday night, 50-6.

It was the third straight lopsided victory for a Bulldogs team that began the season with a great deal of talent and big expectations. It's been so far, so very, very good for the Bulldogs who also have a tremendous amount of confidence sitting at 3-0.

"With each win we're getting more and more confidence," Batavia guard Brock Batka said. "Our defense came out and played really tough and our offense did another great job tonight."

It's hard to consider a major turning point during a 50-6 victory, but you could probably point to the defensive stop by the Bulldogs in the first half. They were leading 14-0 but Larkin was driving the ball and eating up clock. If the Royals could punch it in, cut the deficit in half and get a little momentum and confidence at home, maybe they could hang with the Bulldogs. But, the Bulldogs defense would have none of it, denying the Royals and turning them over on downs while in the red zone.

"I think what got it going was the nervousness in Larkin's offense because we put so much pressure on them," Batavia coach Dennis Piron said. "They got down in the red zone and they looked like they might snap and that changed the drive. We stuffed them, smashed the quarterback and withstood."

Batavia (3-0, 1-0 UEC River) then made the Royals pay dearly when Batavia quarterback Noel Gaspari connected with Mike Moffatt on a 43-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-0. The Bulldogs added another touchdown in the first half, this time a 10-yard pass from Gaspari to Zach Strittmatter to make it 28-0.

It was Strittmatter's first career touchdown.

"It was pretty exciting to see that for Zach," Batka said.

"It was very exciting for him and for the program," Piron said. "He was very excited and that had been weighing on him. We were pumped to get him one in the end zone."

Batavia's first two touchdowns came on 11-yard reception by Moffatt from Gaspari and a 5-yard Anthony Thielk run.

The Bulldogs battled through some illnesses during the week as the change in weather had its share of the common cold accompany it. That made practices during the week a bit inconsistent as far as personnel goes, but it didn't have a lasting effect on Friday.

"It usually happens with the weather changing and it made practice challenging during the week," Piron said. "So as a staff we battled some adversity but we made it to the game alright and came out of it healthy."

Batavia extended its lead to 42-0 in the third quarter on a 1-yard run from Alec Lyons and Gaspari's 12-yard pass to Alex Moore. Moore also scored on a 19-yard run in the fourth quarter and backup quarterback Brandon O'Kray's 2-point conversion allowed the Bulldogs to reach the half century mark.

Something the casual observer may have missed on Friday was the strong play of the offensive line. The unit was determined to play better after a so-so performance in Week 2 against Plainfield East.

"One of the things about winning games early in the season and having film sessions is you can be tough on a team during victories," Piron said. "The o-line had a tough week last week and didn't protect very well. One of things that came out (against Larkin) was they run blocked well and made nice strides. I was very pleased with our yards per carry average."

Now attention turns to Bartlett (2-1) on Friday for an Upstate Eight crossover. The Hawks have won two straight after dropping a season-opening 26-24 contest to Wheaton North, the same Falcons who were beaten by Geneva in Week 2.

"There's a couple things about their program," Piron said. "The pay the price during their offseason working out as you can tell from the look and feel of the kids, so they have a physical team and are well coached by one of the top coaches in the area.

"Schematically they're not easy to defend. They're kind of a magnet school with kids that go there and usually one of the more talented teams. They're an 8A ranked team, larger than us, but we believe in our kids and that we'll be the prepared. It'll be a heck of a game that I'm glad is at our place."

To read our "from the team bus" report after Friday's game, click .