Batavia's Gaspari leaving a legacy of accomplishment
The Batavia football program has had many outstanding accomplishments during the past quarter-century and head coach Mike Gaspari has been there for all of them.
Gaspari, who is in his 25th season as head coach of the Bulldogs, recently announced that he'd coach for two more seasons after this one. Next year will be Gaspari's last as Batavia athletic director. His final season as head football coach will be 2011, which will also be the senior year for his son Noel, the Bulldogs' quarterback.
Last Friday, Gaspari and the Bulldogs won for the first time this season, beating West Chicago 27-6. Noel Gaspari threw for a touchdown in the win.
"I thought we played very well and the confidence factor is important with so many untested guys," Mike Gaspari said. "Noel has stepped in and done very and we ask an awful lot from that (quarterback) position."
Winning your first game with your son contributing heavily would have to rank among one of Gaspari's biggest accomplishments. It's a game he and Noel won't forget.
While the rest of Bulldog Nation might not remember drubbing West Chicago a couple years from now, there have been plenty of games that the faithful remember from the past 25 years. Let's take a look at the Gaspari era so far, one that began without a weight room to prepare for the season and with Saturday afternoon games because the stadium didn't feature lights.
Friday, Oct. 3, 1986
Batavia 34, Sycamore 19: Gaspari endured a winless season in 1985 but he had plenty to smile about during Homecoming when the Bulldogs ended an 18-game losing streak and won their first Homecoming game in 11 years.
Current assistant coach Matt Holm had an interception and teammate Dave Cairns had 2 picks to lead Batavia. It was the school's first victory since September 1984. It was also victory No. 1 for Gaspari.
"It was a special day for a lot of people who had worked hard week after week in practice and finally got into their first game, and it was a special day for everyone in the program," Gaspari said. "It was a credit to the kids to win the first home game in five years. It was a win for the football program by kids who believe."
Friday, Oct. 31, 1986
Batavia 13, Geneva 6: Unusual things happen on Halloween, so it only made sense that the Bulldogs picked Halloween 1986 to beat Geneva for the first time since 1966, ending the Vikings' 19-game winning streak against Batavia. Fullback Mike Bendure had a 1-yard TD run and quarterback Mark Mika connected on a 28-yard TD pass to Scott Tudor.
"The win is a tribute to our kids. They come into a game like this (1-7) and still went out and played just as hard as ever," Gaspari said. "I've said all along I wanted to be head coach at Batavia because of the type of kids we have, and they proved it tonight with this win."
Friday, Sept. 15, 1989
Batavia 6, Sycamore 0: While the score may seem to be a leftover from last spring's 30-6 Bulldogs baseball team, it was all Batavia needed to do something it hadn't done in the MTV music video era - win back-to-back games. The Bulldogs defense came up huge, pressuring the quarterback all evening, collecting 4 sacks and limiting the Spartans to 110 yards and just 5 first downs.
"This is the first time in the 1980s that a Batavia team has won two straight football games," Gaspari said. "And it is a credit to the kids."
Friday, Oct. 27, 1989
Batavia 21, Geneva 14: A week earlier Batavia edged Kaneland 17-7 to pick up its third win of the season, the first time during Gaspari's tenure that the Bulldogs won three games.
The team took it a step further winning its fourth game to finish the season 4-5. How overdue was a victory over the Vikings in Geneva? Well, the last time it happened Lyndon B. Johnson was president of the United States. An 8-yard run by Kevin Scroggins with 1:28 remaining proved to be the game-winner.
Friday, Nov. 1, 1991
Batavia 36, Plainfield 0: Batavia felt like it had already earned enough points to qualify for the playoffs, but to make sure the Bulldogs came out firing, scoring on their first four possessions.
The Bulldogs finished the regular season at 7-2 and hosted Bremen in round one of the IHSA playoffs. It was the first time the team ever qualified for the postseason.
"This is the topper for me in my coaching career," Gaspari said. "I have to give credit to the seniors - who were 0-5 as freshmen - who stuck with it year and year and believed in the coaches and continued to work hard in the off-season."
Friday, Sept. 27, 1996
Batavia 27, Oswego 20: Gaspari entered the game 0-10 against Oswego but finally beat the Panthers when quarterback Ryan Kochen couldn't find an open receiver on 3rd-down-and-6 and turned the play into a 61-yard touchdown run with just 1:29 remaining. The Bulldogs hadn't beaten Oswego since 1981.
"The odds were with us tonight. It's been a long time," Gaspari said. "Our kids played their hearts out, as did Oswego's kids. It was a great football game."
Friday, Oct. 25, 1996
Batavia 48, Fenton 13: The victory assured the Bulldogs a share of the Suburban Prairie Red Conference title with Minooka, and more significantly, the first conference championship in the program's history. The Bison picked off 2 of quarterback Ryan Kochen's first 3 passes but Kochen didn't lose faith, as he finished with 4 touchdowns.
Friday, Nov. 1, 1996
Batavia 34, Peotone Co-op 0: The Bulldogs' defense picked (3 interceptions) an ideal time to shut out an opponent for the first time of the season. When they weren't shutting down Peotone's passing game, they were slowing standout running back Tim Donnelly, who the Bulldogs limited to 45 yards on 12 carries. This was the school's first ever win in the playoffs.
"I'm just so happy for the kids, particularly the seniors," Gaspari said. "They're the ones that are going to be gone when this is over with."
Saturday, Nov. 9, 1996
Batavia 55, Englewood 6: It was just 10 years ago when Batavia was just hoping to get at least a single win in a season. This night they recorded their 10th victory of the season becoming the first Batavia team to win 10 games in a season, while advancing deeper in the postseason than ever before. Ben Zagorski had a pair of touchdown catches and Sean Dennin rushed for 140 yards and a couple of scores.
Friday, Oct. 9, 1998
Batavia 24, Morris 20: This was the big Suburban Prairie Conference Red division game of the year. The 5-1 Bulldogs had to travel to Morris to face the undefeated Redskins who were ranked third in the AP Class 4A poll and were led by a defense that was limiting opponents to just 7 points a ballgame.
It was a daunting task for a Bulldogs team that proved to be inspired to get back at a Morris program which ended the Bulldogs season a year earlier with a 21-14 win in the first round of the playoffs.
Justin Kochen had a career in just four quarters to lead the Bulldogs to the upset. He intercepted 2 passes, one that he returned for a 65-yard score, and he caught 2 passes for 57 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Dave Rakow - now the Marmion baseball coach - threw for 178 yards, the defense picked off 3 passes, and Craig Martin kicked a crucial 33-yard field goal in the final quarter.
"So many of our kids just played their best football game. And that's the type of game we just had to have tonight in order to be successful," Gaspari said. "It's one of the moments I'll never forget. It ranks right up there with beating Geneva for the first time in 20 years in 1986 and beating Oswego two years ago. It's a real bench mark for our program."
Friday, Oct. 19, 2001
Batavia 21, Oswego 14: Batavia had lost 4 in a row to the Panthers but with this victory, the Bulldogs improved to 5-4. Senior Aaron Scholl threw for 2 scores and intercepted a pair of passes, including one with 2:33 remaining that ended Oswego's comeback.
A playoff bid was not guaranteed, but with the team gathered at Gaspari's home the new day, they learned that they were awarded the 30th seed in the Class 6A playoffs.
Friday, Oct. 25, 2003
Batavia 20, Geneva 17, 4 OTs: It took 4 overtimes, a 27-yard field goal by Jake Thorsen and a blocked field goal by Jake Pierce for Batavia to win its first outright conference title in school history.
While the Bulldogs edged Glenbard South for the outright title, they also put a major hurting on rival Geneva as the Vikings were the last team left out of the 256-team playoff field.
Friday, Oct. 28, 2005
Batavia 15, Providence Catholic 13: The proud tradition of Providence Catholic is among the richest in Illinois high school football lore. The Celtics, with 9 state titles and 16 consecutive state playoff appearances, came to Batavia for an opening round Class 6A playoff game, only be kicked away by a 24-yard Matt Mueller field goal with 21 seconds remaining.
Mueller, who had missed from 44 and 47 yards earlier, drilled the game winner after backup quarterback Alex Schroeder connected with Colin Schweigert for a 28-yard gain on a 4th-and-12.
"There's been a lot of special moments for me," Gaspari said. "The winning is more for the kids than anything else."
Friday, Nov. 3, 2006
Batavia 40, St. Viator 37: With quarterback Alex Schroeder sidelined with a mild concussion, sophomore Jordan Coffey got the call and delivered a 70-yard heave of a touchdown pass to Alex Warner. The ball was tipped by a defender, but Warner hung with it, tucked it in and gave the Bulldogs the lead for good with 1:37 remaining in a Class 6A second round game.
"You can't ask for anything more from a high school football game," Gaspari said. "This obviously beats anything I can think of. I don't know how many lead changes there were. Far too many for somebody my age."
Saturday, Nov. 11, 2006
Batavia 15, Cary-Grove 14: Cary-Grove had allowed just 40 points entering the contest, and the play of the game came on Gaspari's decision to go for a 2-point conversion instead of the traditional 1-point PAT.
Alex Schroeder's pass to tight end Jordan Church gave Batavia a 15-14 lead with 56 seconds remaining. Like most horror movies, the Trojans has one last life left though, as they drove the field to set up Dan McDonald for a 43-yard field goal. The kick fell short, the Bulldogs breathed a huge sigh of relief, and would later learn that they'd next face Geneva in the semifinals.
"People are going to say it was a gutsy call," Gaspari said. "I think it was just an intelligent call based on the fact that high school overtime is a 10-yard game."
Saturday, Nov. 18, 2006
Batavia 28, Geneva 0: If there's one team you want to beat to earn the right to compete for a state title for the first time in school history, why not beat your biggest rival? That's what the Bulldogs did thanks to a stingy defense that shutout the Vikings. Quarterback Alex Schroeder's had a pair of touchdown runs to pace the Bulldogs.
"Nobody's given us credit over the past 15, 20 years," Gaspari said. "Look at the scores. Nobody's looking at that. All you have to do is look in the past. It kind of tells you where we're at as a program, how important this game is to us, regardless of what's at stake. This has always been an important game to our program. Always has been, always will be."
As for what Gaspari and the Bulldogs can accomplish the rest of this season and in upcoming years, we'll just have to watch and see.
"The best thing I can is that there were some real lows early on and the program was in bad shape," Gaspari said. "The ultimate top of the pinnacle was going all the way to state game, but what I've echoed everyday, every year is the relationships and experiences gained by the kids. That's something that's been always accomplished whether we win or lose."
And thanks to Gaspari, the Bulldogs football program is a winner.