Batavia 47, Yorkville 3
To say JR Kabba had an eventful night would be an understatement.
The Batavia running back not only rushed for three touchdowns and caught a TD pass, but he also promenaded at midfield during halftime as part of the Homecoming court.
"It was a pretty fun night," Kabba said.
And a big night for the Bulldogs as well. In front of a spillover crowd ranging from 45-year alums (Class of '62) to middle schoolers in the south end zone, Batavia dominated Yorkville from start to finish for a 47-3 victory.
The win snapped a rare two-game losing streak as Batavia evened its record at 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the Western Sun Conference.
"Hopefully this is something we can build on after going through a little adversity the last two weeks," Batavia coach Mike Gaspari said.
No adversity in sight on Friday. Aside from a few hiccups, the Bulldogs were nearly flawless. Their first drive ended with a fumble, but on the first play of their very next possession, Kabba burst through a seam and zipped down the left sideline for a 73-yard touchdown.
Kicker James Batt put Yorkville (2-4, 0-4) on the scoreboard moments later with a 37-yard field goal, but that would be it for the Foxes' scoring output.
Quarterback Jordan Coffey (7 for 15, 129 yards, 3 TDs) threw consecutive touchdown passes -- the first a toss to Kabba in the flat which he turned into a 56-yard score -- and the second just minutes later when he hit Ryan Webb in stride crossing through the end zone for a 30-yard strike.
A turnover late in the first half set up an easy score by Kabba, this time from two yards out, which gave Batavia a 27-3 halftime lead as Kabba headed to homecoming court to serve as junior escort.
He was back in the end zone again shortly thereafter. Coffey hit Ian Wallis in the right corner of the end zone for a 17-yard score to open the third quarter. Then, after Jack Creed sacked Yorkville QB Andrew Rosati, the Bulldogs forced a punt and, two plays later, Kabba scored his fourth TD when he slithered in from 9 yards out.
"I can hardly take any credit; it's all the O-Line," Kabba said. "They give me the blocks and I just run. The least I can do is score a few touchdown for those guys. Every time I touched the ball, the O-line kept me from getting pummeled. Once our line gets rolling, it's hard to stop their momentum."
"Our kids came off the football real well," Gaspari added. "When you give a kid (Kabba) like that a crease, he's going to make big plays. He's an exciting player with great speed."
Stewart Charles pulled down an interception on Yorkville's ensuing possession, and Brian Krolikowski scored on the very next play, a 20-yard tackle-busting run to cap a 20-point blitz by Batavia in a span of just 2 ½ minutes in the third quarter.
In less than three quarters of action, Kabba finished with 166 yards on 14 carries as Batavia racked up 303 yards rushing and 432 total yards.
"I didn't have any doubt we could win this game, but after the way (Yorkville) played against Geneva, we definitely didn't come in here thinking we'd win in a blowout," Kabba said. "We were very well-prepared for this game."
David Swope led Yorkville with 100 yards rushing on 20 carries before leaving midway through the third quarter with what appeared to be a serious knee injury. No further information was immediately available on the severity of the injury.