Batavia doubles up Lake Park behind dominating ground game
Batavia came into Week 4 as the No. 6 team in the Daily Herald Top 20 and the Bulldogs looked the part while grinding their way to a 42-21 victory over Lake Park on Friday in Roselle.
The Bulldogs running game was led by a pair of seniors: Preston Brummel and Henry Hahn. The duo combined for 245 yards on the ground and five touchdowns as Batavia coach Dennis Piron called their number time after time.
“It's something that we know that we can do,” said Piron about establishing the run. “We've got kids that are willing blockers in the backfield, and the guys up front really feed off of that and get that push.”
Batavia (3-1, 2-0 DuKane Conference) scored on its first possession, forcing the Lancers (2-2, 0-2) to start making difficult tackles early as they fed Brummel the ball on the way down the field.
“The key for us was for the fullbacks to just hit every linebacker they can, take them out of the game,” said Brummel, who finished the night with 125 rushing yards and 2 scores.
After a Lancers three-and-out, Batavia got Hahn involved as he put his head down a few forceful carries before breaking loose on a 14-yard touchdown to give the Bulldogs a two-score lead. Hahn finished the game with 120 yards rushing and three touchdowns.
“We just saw that they weren't adjusting to the run,” said Brummel. “Their overhang wasn't playing it, so we just kind of just played what worked and kept pounding the ball.”
While the Lancers offense struggled to find a quick response, their defense stepped up and kept Batavia from stretching the field through the air. Senior Lake Park linebacker Joey Michelini led a fierce pass rush to keep Batavia junior signal caller Michael Vander Luitgaren uncomfortable in the pocket.
“We were a little disappointed in our ability to kind of keep people off of our quarterback,” said Piron. “We're going to have to figure that out going into the next week.”
Michelini sacked Vander Luitgaren on a fourth down attempt to give Lake Park the ball back with an opportunity to make it a one-score game just before the half.
However, Bulldogs standout senior lineman Gavin Pecor tipped an ensuing Lancers pass into the air and fellow Batavia senior Saimarr Howell came up with a game-changing interception.
“It got batted. So I just went for the ball,” said Howell. “Growing up, my dad always taught me to go for the ball, so that was what I did. I came down with it, and I just tried to get to the end zone.”
He almost did, racing his way 44 yards to the Lake Park 1 yard line to set up an easy touchdown run for Brummel to give Batavia a 21-0 lead with 5:54 to play in the half.
Lake Park responded as quarterback George Tzamouranis found senior wide receiver Emanuele Carrozzoli for a 79-yard touchdown on the very next play, and the lead remained at 14 points at halftime.
“We were in a two-score game against one of the best teams in the state,” said Lake Park coach Chris Kirkpatrick. “I'm so proud of that. And then they executed down the stretch better than we did.”
Batavia leaned on its power running game throughout the second half to put the Lancers away and begin to think about a Week 5 showdown with St. Charles North.
“That's for us turned into just a great league rivalry for us year in, year out, and we're excited,” said Piron. “We got a three game road stretch here…I'm sure they've circled us and we've circled them and we're looking forward to the challenge that they've presented.”