Batavia’s running backs are more than just guys who carry the football

Trends come and go in football, even high school football. But there are constants.

“I think the run game is still very powerful at Batavia, and I believe Batavia is a running offense,” said one of the Bulldogs’ main power sources, senior running back and team co-captain Nate Whitwell.

The running back position has gained 2,234 yards on the ground to 1,839 through the air this season at Batavia (10-1), which plays host to Downers Grove North (10-1) in the Class 7A state quarterfinals at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The backs may line up anywhere on the field in offensive coordinator Sean Anderson’s scheme.

“They have to execute an awful lot of different things in our offense because we are technically a pro-style team with a two-back set. Everybody has to be able to block for each other and carry the football,” said Batavia head coach Dennis Piron.

The bottom line is block or “you can’t really play” running back, Piron said.

“From an overall goal standpoint, execute your assignment when the opportunity is there for you to carry (the football),” he said.

“That’s great, but when you’re not, do all the little things to make sure we’re doing a great job as a complete offense, whether it’s pass protection, lead block, iso (isolation) block, J-block (kicking out the defensive end).”

Whitwell, with 1,437 yards rushing and 26 touchdowns, and Kelly, with 448 yards and 4 touchdowns, get the bulk of the handoffs for Batavia.

Junior fullbacks Preston Brummel and Gavin Van Pelt help pave their way.

“Being a fullback really made me realize it’s about the team,” VanPelt said.

Running backs coach Chuck Whelpley schools the backs in delivering powerful blocks from a low center of gravity.

“We get taught to get super-low,” VanPelt said. “A main point of the whole season was just getting low. We would do tons of drills just focused on that, and to square up.”

“I just love hitting people,” Brummel said. “I love the energy boost that I get from it, not playing scared, just getting low and blasting somebody. It’s the greatest feeling knowing that I could make a big play happen with just a good block.”

Naturally, nothing happens without Batavia offensive linemen such as Steven Bannos, Bradyn Martinson, Ryan Myers, Mason Popp, Robert Robinson and Tucker Saam.

“We’ve had some injuries throughout the season” — such as to 6-foot-5, 260-pound Joshua Hecht — “so we’ve been finding guys to get in there, but everyone that’s been in there has been doing great for us and we’ve been very successful with the run game this whole season,” said Kelly, a junior.

An opposing coach once said Batavia poses a problem offensively because, unlike teams that use various formations but run the same routes out of them, the Bulldogs’ abundant motions and formations offer no predictable tendencies.

This can create a textbook-sized playbook. Kelly said that between running plays, receiving routes, formations and responsibilities, there are “hundreds” of variations.

For a running back, “I think year by year it’s getting more versatile,” he said.

“As a running back you have to be able to do everything now, not just run the ball, but run block, pass block, catch the ball, go out in space and make people miss, not just run people over. I think it’s a more complex position than it ever has been.”

And touchdowns are celebrated more than ever before. This group, were spiking the football legal in high school, said they’d decline the opportunity.

“I wouldn’t even do that if I could do it. I would just give the ball to the ref,” Whitwell said.

“Spiking the ball is kind of like, selfish,” Brummel said. “I like to be humble, celebrate with my team. It’s about my team, not myself.”