Batavia can't control Rochelle's ground game

The only thing missing on Rochelle players was the old "leatherhead" gear replacing the modern football helmet.

In dominating Batavia 30-6 in a Western Sun Conference contest Friday night, the host Hubs put on a clinic Friday on how to grind down an opponent the old-fashioned way ­- by running the ball and using huge chunks of the game clock in doing so.

Rochelle's offensive line cleared the way all night as the Hubs' wing formation compiled 348 yards rushing, with junior fullback Josh Bernardin leading the way with three touchdowns and 158 yards in 18 carries.

"Our offensive line did a great job and I found myself with a lot of one-on-one tackle situations," the 180-pound Bernardin said. "It makes it a lot easier, as a fullback, to be going up against a safety rather than two linebackers."

It was thought this contest might represent a throwback to an era in which three yards and a cloud of dust was the only way to define a football game. But Batavia (1-3, 0-2) never could get its running game ignited as the Bulldogs managed only 78 yards on the ground.

It forced Batavia sophomore quarterback Nick Gaspari (6 of 19 for 103 yards) to go to the air more often, but his first pass of the night was intercepted and proved to be a quick turning point.

On the game's opening possession, Rochelle's Cody Cassidy nabbed a pass along the sideline intended for Bulldog receiver Emund Kabba. The ball bounced off Kabba's chest, right into Cassidy's hands at the Bulldog 20-yard line.

Four plays later, Bernardin barreled in from four yards out for the game's first score.

"We actually wanted the ball to start the game, and they had won the toss and chose to kick to us, so I thought, OK, this is a great situation," Batavia coach Mike Gaspari said. "We had an excellently executed play, but we just didn't finish it.

"You see that happen (the ball bounce into a defender's hands) to everybody at every level," Gaspari said. "It gave them momentum and great field position."

Rochelle (3-1, 1-1) used that momentum to score again five minutes later on Dan Ruppenthal's 14-yard burst up the middle, a signal that Rochelle would attack Batavia's defense head-on when the Hubs needed key yardage.

Unfortunately for Batavia, Rochelle rarely faced third-and-long situations in piling up 20 first downs, while the Bulldogs rarely had a third-and-short scenario all night. The ground game was so effective for Rochelle that Hubs quarterback Brett Metzger threw only two passes all night, both incompletions on extra-point attempts.

"When you are playing an opponent like this, and they get it going on you offensively, it is really tough," Gaspari said of Rochelle's time-consuming offense.

A three-yard touchdown run by C.J. Navarro in the second quarter lifted Rochelle to an 18-0 halftime lead, but the Hubs put an exclamation point on the night by taking the second-half kickoff and then grinding out a nine-minute scoring drive capped by Bernardin's two-yard TD run.

"I felt we were really in the ballgame at halftime, but they took the whole third quarter with their opening drive and that was brutal, but a real credit to them," Gaspari said. "We have marveled in the last four years we have played them at how well they get off the ball and drive their feet."

Batavia scored its only touchdown with 6 seconds left in the third quarter when Gaspari launched a 54-yard bomb to Scott Poulos, who had outrun Rochelle defenders and was wide open for the catch in the end zone.

A bruising 12-yard touchdown run by Bernardin in the fourth quarter closed the scoring.

In another throwback to another era, neither team was able to convert on a single extra point attempt in the game.

Sophomore Danny Seiton led Batavia with 41 yards rushing in eight carries.