Vander Luitgaren, Zeng put up big numbers as Batavia rolls past Lake Park
Final score: Batavia 55, Lake Park 7
Records: Batavia moves to 3-1, 2-0 in the DuKane Conference while Lake Park falls to 1-3, 0-2.
Player of the game: Michael Vander Luitgaren. The Wyoming recruit completed 19 of 24 passes for 268 yards and 5 touchdowns. And that was just the first half. He led the Bulldogs’ first drive of the second half, which consisted of a 49-yard catch-and-run to Brennon Zeng for his sixth TD pass before taking a seat for the rest of the evening.
Other statistical leaders: Zeng caught four of Vander Luitgaren’s touchdown passes. The senior finished with eight catches for 132 yards. Darin Ashiru had six catches for 103 yards, all in the first half. Caden Meister and Thomas Prescott also caught TDs. Liam Moran added 65 yards and a score on the ground. For the Lancers, Tay Smith completed seven of 13 passes for 49 yards, including a scoring strike to Logan Boebel to get the Lancers on the scoreboard.
Turning point: The Bulldogs took the opening kickoff and moved 83 yards in 12 plays with Vander Luitgaren finding Prescott for the score to put Batavia ahead for good.
First-half highlight: Three straight three-and-outs by the Bulldogs defense after that opening score put the offense in position to quickly add three more scores. And that unit took full advantage, with Vander Luitgaren tossing scoring passes to Zeng, Meister, and Zeng again to put the Bulldogs ahead 28-0.
Second-half highlight: On Van Luitgaren’s only play after intermission, he rolled right and hit Zeng in stride. The latter raced down the sideline for the score. Backup quarterback Cal Miller added a scoring run in the fourth quarter.
X-factor: The Bulldogs running game. With the passing attack clicking on all cylinders, Batavia didn’t need to run the ball much, but that part of the offense kept Lake Park’s defense off balance. Besides Moran, Charles Rosengren added 42 yards on seven tries.
Quote: ”Getting the ball to [Zeng], he just makes plays,” said Vander Luitgaren. “He did that all four times he scored tonight. All the guys on the team, getting them the ball they just make plays. It’s just great.”
“When we’re on, we’re getting better, and we’re figuring stuff out, and we’re learning, and we’re gelling, we’re a pretty formidable team,” said Bulldogs coach Dennis Piron. “It’s very difficult to deal with some of the stuff that we can do. We have an awful lot of weapons and a lot of kids who’ve been working very, very hard to be really good football players.”