Batavia's playoff party leads to one heck of a road trip

All associated with high school football had less than a day --in some cases, less than a few hours -- to reflect on the moments of Week 9, the last regular season week of high school football. There wasn't too much time after Friday and Saturday's action of football, where everyone's attention then turned to the postseason and pairings.

Any team with a 6-3 or better record knew they were getting in. Most 5-4 teams knew their fate as well. Once teams found out they made the playoffs, the next question was, "Who are we going to play?"

That was determined after 8 p.m. Saturday night. Most teams in the Tri-Cities Area gathered together to learn who they were going to play next weekend.

The 40-plus players from Aurora Christian gathered at coach Don Beebe's house for pizza and sandwiches while Geneva's players and coaches partied at the high school with pizza and Gatorade. Both teams went undefeated in the regular season, so each knew they would get a high seed and a guaranteed first home game.

At 7-2, St. Charles East also knew it made the playoffs for sure. The Saints gathered at a player's house, where there was a bonfire.

Batavia, St. Charles North and Marmion all went 5-4 this year. Luckily, each team made the playoffs, yet none of the coaches were with the players for the announcement of the pairings.

Marmion chose not to gather this year because last year's 5-4 team got together but fell short of making the playoffs.

The North Stars' coach, Mark Gould, and defensive coordinator Jared McCall were at McCall's house watching the pairings on TV and on the IHSA Web site. The players were at the Downie house (Rich is a player on the team; mom is the football booster club president).

As for Batavia? I crashed the Bulldogs' pairing party that took place at coach Mike Gaspari's house. It turned out they received the biggest shock of everyone in the area -- East St. Louis. In East St. Louis.

It's 7 p.m. on a Saturday night, and Batavia coach Mike Gaspari's house is occupied with assistant coaches and their significant others.

For now, it's calm. Coaches are scattered in the living room watching the Illini/Michigan football game, in the computer room, in the kitchen or in the living room.

In a little over an hour, everyone is going to be glued to the TV set or computer screen, wondering what the fate of the Bulldogs is next weekend for the first round of the playoffs.

In the previous years, Gaspari and his wife Marcia had the whole football team over in their house not too far away from the high school. This year, with the team being 5-4 and other family-related things happening away from football, they thought it would be best to host the coaches only. The only child in sight is Gaspari's son, Noel.

However, the players -- all 100-plus of them -- were missed.

"It's very different without them," Marcia said. "Mike thought, being 5-4, that it might be good they are with their friends and family. We always want to include everybody … if I could have a bigger house, I would."

Batavia found out early Saturday morning that its 5-4 record was good enough to get in. Eleven teams with that same record did not get in this year.

"You just never know going into Week 9, but we were pretty confident we were getting in," Mike Gaspari said.

In 1995, before the playoff format was expanded, Batavia was one of the teams that did not get in with a 6-3 record. The Bulldogs lost a coin flip to Rock Island for the last spot to get in.

"We had a nice team who we felt deserved to get in at the time, but it didn't work out," Gaspari said.

The Bulldogs did not gather that year. They found out over the radio because there was no Web site or TV show dedicated to the playoff pairings.

Nowadays, things are way different. The moment the Bulldogs knew they were in via the internet, defensive coordinator Dennis Piron began making his predictions.

With Piron's research, he came to the conclusion the Bulldogs were going to end up playing De La Salle in Chicago. In less than an hour, however, he and the rest of the staff would find out.

There's no real way to prepare or look ahead for who the Bulldogs will play. But once it is announced, it's a "wild scramble," according to Mike Gaspari.

He's right. By 8:40 p.m., right before Class 7A is announced, there's a certain buzz in the living room. Everyone is now gathered by the TV.

The upper bracket is announced ... Rockford Boylan … Rolling Meadows … Crystal Lake South … Cary-Grove … De La Salle … Not one of the four local teams are in this bracket.

Powerhouse Wheaton Warrenville South gets a No. 1 seed in the lower bracket … St. Rita … Morgan Park … all the action is in the second bracket with No. 1 Geneva playing Bradley-Bourbonnais (Imagine another Geneva/Batavia game in the first week of the playoffs!!!) … St. Charles East gets Granite City … St. Charles North travels to Moline … and FINALLY, Batavia is announced.

No. 6 Batavia at East St. Louis.

"Can we fly there?," someone in the living room said after an eruption of, "Ahhhs!" broke out.

"O'Hare or Midway?" someone else says back.

Piron was wrong and later said the situation was "craziness." Marcia says, "Oh my gosh!" Mike asks the room, "What is halfway?" Springfield, perhaps?

Everyone is talking about what was just announced as Mike Gaspari watches the Class 8A pairings on TV standing with his arms crossed. Piron is on his cell phone, then hits the computer room. Everyone is sort of stunned, but is in a light mood at the fact that East St. Louis is about 5 hours and 276 miles away.

Maybe it's not so bad after all -- especially with Mike and Marcia's positive attitudes.

"We've played all over and I think this will be a great trip too," Marcia said. "Mike thought it could be something like this, so it's just another adventure for our kids. We travel well. We always have a great following."

Mike's concern Saturday was how he was going to get film on East St. Louis. By Sunday, it was all taken care of -- he met with coaches at a gas station in Atlanta -- Illinois, that is. By Monday, practice resumed as if the Bulldogs were playing just another team.

Only this time, instead of traveling around an hour or so, Batavia has to go much further.

"It will be something our guys will remember for a long, long time," Mike said.