Scouting Geneva @ Batavia

By Dave Oberhelman

Geneva (7-1, 5-1)

at Batavia (2-6, 1-5)

Game time: 7:30 p.m. today

Last year: Geneva 47, Batavia 14.

Last week: Geneva 27, Kaneland 24 (OT); Batavia 40, DeKalb 6.

Outlook: Since that first hominid walked upright - well, 1913 at least - Geneva and Batavia have battled on a football field. The series stands at 47-38-5 in Geneva's favor. When Rob Wicinski took over at Geneva he tried to treat it as any other game, he said: "Batavia won't let you do that." And just because the Bulldogs have had a down year doesn't mean anything less to the combatants and, in particular, the combatants' relatives. "We definitely aren't looking at their record," the Geneva coach said. "We've been beat up by them so many times, we're always very aware of who Batavia is." Wicinski and Batavia counterpart Mike Gaspari agree that this game, positioned as it is in Week 9, gives an advantage to rebuilding Batavia, a bright flashing beacon at the end of a rough journey. "This is our Super Bowl," said Gaspari, who recalls among the upsets Batavia's 13-6 victory in 1986 to beat Geneva for the first time in 20 years. Despite losses to Yorkville and Sycamore and the rest Gaspari has repeatedly stated the Bulldogs have never mailed it in during practice or competition, and that's why after the 40-6 win over DeKalb a game ball was awarded to Piotr "Pete" Koczmara, who returned to his linebacker spot and recovered a fumble a month and a half after an MCL injury in Week 2. That DeKalb game was a needed morale booster after working through five straight losses, and displayed what Batavia fans will hopefully see more of tonight and in 2010 - sophomore Danny Seiton rushing for 184 yards and 3 touchdowns, sophomore Noel Gaspari throwing touchdown passes to juniors Mike Clopton and Danny Peskind. For Batavia to compete with Geneva it'll come down to both sides of the line: offensive linemen Sean Tews, Jeff Hartzell, Andrew Hansen, Pat Martin, Kyle Dee, Matt Mueller, Jerret Clark and Ben Read; defensive linemen Cole Gardner, Brian Wilson, Nick Gorczyca, and the Bulldogs' leading tackler as a sophomore, Alec Lyons. "We're going to have to get a couple breaks," Mike Gaspari said. "I think we just have to play our best game, man for man, across the board. That can happen - I've seen it happen before." Geneva counters upfront with disruptive tackle Frank Boenzi, who takes on double- and triple-teams and also has been working in with the offense. Aside from the 300-pound Boenzi none of the Vikings defenders are what you'd call huge, a collection of linemen and 'backers like Connor Quinn, Andrew Mariotti, Blake Champer, Asa Bielenberg, Matt Schumann and Bret Shannon who come hard up the middle and off the edge and go sideline to sideline. Geneva had 5 sacks against Kaneland's Joe Camiliere last week, not an easy task. The linemen will pressure Batavia quarterback Noel Gaspari; defensive backs like Nolan Block, Kevin Major and Ryan Landrum hope to benefit. Also back there is Michael Santacaterina, who has been doing it all for Geneva. Against Kaneland he was again a mudder, running the ball 23 times for 115 yards and 4 touchdowns, including the winner in overtime. Santacaterina has run for 18 touchdowns. Vikings quarterback Brandon Beitzel didn't have his best game against Kaneland, but that would seem only to steel this steady two-year starter for one last blast against Batavia, with not only a Western Sun Conference co-championship on the line - it would give Geneva at least a share of all four - but momentum into the playoffs. And, of course, it would give Beitzel and his pals all-time bragging rights. "I think the rivalry is definitely on the order sometimes of being unhealthy," Wicinski said. "It definitely is intense."