Batavia creates new identity
Need any proof at how much a football team can change from year to year?
Look no further than Batavia. Remember watching the Bulldogs with Jordan Coffey slinging the ball all over the field last year, and J.R. Kabba ripping off 20- and 30-yard runs? Heck, Kabba had one game last year with three 70-plus yard runs.
With basically 11 new starters on offense this year, Batavia has had to change its identity. It's now smash-mouth football, where the offense moves the ball slowly and steadily and eats time off the clock, keeping the defense fresh while trying to wear down the opposing defense.
Don't believe me? Ask one of the Glenbard South linebackers, Brian Duffy, who tried to stop Batavia for 48 minutes Friday.
"It reminded me of Geneva last year because Geneva would just pound and pound and pound," Duffy said. "It was just about the same thing. They just ran weak power, strong power, one after another."
Now there's a comparison I didn't see coming, from years of watching Nick Herrera and Michael Ratay and Geneva's fullbacks pound the ball contrasted by some of the 3- and 4- wide receiver sets on many of Batavia's high-flying offenses.
The Bulldogs ran 54 plays from scrimmage Friday in a 19-16 loss to Glenbard South and didn't have one go over 20 yards. Brandon Hartmann broke one 20-yard run, Edmund Kabba and Noel Gaspari had 12-yard scampers and the rest were single digits.
But Batavia also did not turn the ball over, committed only 3 penalties and had just three plays that went for negative yards. That enabled them to grind out first downs, led by offensive linemen Pat Martin, Sean Tews, Jeff Hartzell, Matt Mueller and Kyle Dee.
Despite being 1-2, Batavia has come a long way in three short weeks from its opening 43-13 blowout loss against a St. Charles North team that's 3-0 and quite possibly Mark Gould's best yet.
"Where our team has come from from that first week is just incredible," Batavia coach Mike Gaspari said.
And nobody has made more progress and signified Batavia's improvement more than those five offensive lineman, who go 235, 250, 280, 310 and 310 pounds.
"None of those kids have been starters through the years," said Gaspari, who praised the work of offensive line coach P.J. White. "Those kids have come together. Their effort level in practice is what's helped them.
"We absolutely needed to control the clock (against Glenbard South) and that's a credit to our offensive line."
While Batavia almost beat one of the Western Sun favorites Friday basically without a passing game, the Bulldogs eventually are going to need to complete more than 2 passes. You don't want to get in a situation like Friday's fourth quarter, down 3 points with 1:27 to go and not having a two-minute offense capable of winning the game.
The week before, Batavia did execute its two-minute offense for a score before halftime against West Chicago.
Getting sophomore Noel Gaspari healthy will help. He suffered a pinched nerve in his throwing shoulder in the first week against St. Charles North, then aggravated it early against Glenbard South but stayed in the game.
The Bulldogs also will find out linebacker/fullback Piotr Koczmara's diagnosis when he gets an MRI. Originally the Bulldogs were optimistic they would get Koczmara, who was hurt on a horse collar tackle that didn't get flagged in Week 2, back soon. Now coach Gaspari isn't sure.
"I asked him (Noel) several times if he wanted to come out and he didn't want to come out of the game," coach Gaspari said. "Our passing game will come, I'm not worried about that."
In the meantime, Bulldog fans can adjust to rooting for a team without the big-play capability like last year, but one that displayed remarkable toughness Friday and left quite an impression on their opponent.
"They have a big offensive line, that's their strength this year," Glenbard South coach Dan Starkey said. "They (Batavia's skill players) are young and inexperienced. I think coach Gaspari called a great game. We were fortunate to come out with a win."
jlemon@dailyherald.com