Batavia goes 85 yards on final drive, advances to state with 25-21 win over Lincoln-Way Central
It was a case of déjà vu for sophomore Michael Vander Luitgaren.
After Lincoln-Way Central junior quarterback Drew Woodburn scored on a 1-yard QB sneak with 2:15 left in the game to take a three-point lead in the Class 7A state semifinal, Batavia needed an offensive drive led by the sophomore quarterback to keep their championship hopes alive.
But he wasn’t worried. In fact, he felt quite the opposite.
“I looked at (junior quarterback) Bodi (Anderson) and said, ‘This is fun, man,’ " Vander Luitgaren said. “It’s always fun to be down and come back. You get the opportunity to do something great.”
And similar to his game-winning drive in the second round victory over Lincoln-Way West, he executed.
The sophomore led the offense 85 yards down the field in 90 seconds and found wide receiver Isaiah Brown for the go-ahead 15-yard touchdown with 31 seconds left to give Batavia a 25-21 victory over Lincoln-Way Central to advance to the 7A title game for the second time in three years.
“He looked at me, gave me that fade audible, and he put it on the back shoulder right where it needed to be, and I just went up and got the ball,” said Brown, who finished with 10 catches for 93 yards and three touchdowns. “I knew I was coming down with it as soon as I saw it in the air. To make that catch, it was amazing.”
Batavia (12-1) will take on Mt. Carmel (10-3) in the Class 7A title game in a rematch of the 2022 bout, where the Caravan won 44-20. Mt. Carmel defeated St. Rita 43-24 in its semifinal.
Lincoln-Way Central ends its season at 9-4.
The Bulldogs’ final offensive drive didn’t start the way they wanted with Vander Luitgaren (12-of-17, 212 yards, 3 TDs) taking a sack on second down that moved them back to a third-and-long situation on their own 18-yard line. But the sophomore kept his calm and found senior wideout Jake Mysliwiec (three catches, 81 yards) on an out route for 32 yards to put them at midfield.
After that, the sophomore kept the chains moving with first down passes to Brown and junior Brett Berggren (four catches, 63 yards), before finding Brown once again for the game-winner.
“Our ability to do this thing where we don’t implode, but hang in there and battle and stay together, that’s part of the specialness to our boys,” Batavia coach Dennis Piron said. “I just love it. It’s fantastic. We’re all lucky to be where we are at this time.”
Batavia picked up its first lead of the game since their opening drive when Anderson (5-of-7, 45 yards, TD) found Brown for a 19-yard score with 5:31 remaining in the game after Vander Luitgaren connected with Brown from 8 yards out. The sophomore also had a 20-yard passing score to Luke Stevenson at the end of the first half.
“He did a wonderful job, that’s just his thing,” Piron said. “There’s some specialness to what he’s bringing to the game for us now. He doesn’t get nervous, doesn’t get flustered. It was just spectacular.”
Lincoln-Way Central took a 14-12 lead heading into halftime thanks to the efforts of junior wide receiver Luke Andresen, who finished the night with six catches for 151 yards and a touchdown. The junior caught a 38-yard pass from Woodburn to give the Knights a 7-6 lead, and also caught a pass in the red zone on the ensuing drive that led to a 2-yard rushing score from Tyler Tulk to extend the lead to eight points.
“We had a shot to win the entire game,” Andresen said. “We put ourselves in a spot to win before halftime, and I was really happy to help my team out.”
Despite the loss, Lincoln-Way Central coach Dave Woodburn said he was very happy with how the team played in its first semifinal since 2000.
“The amount of time and effort that they put in since January, we’re indebted to them as coaches,” Dave Woodburn said. “They set some goals for themselves, they got real close to those goals, and we just didn’t finish. But man, what a group of young men that we have here.”