Scouting: Batavia @ Rochelle

Batavia (1-2, 0-1) at Rochelle (2-1, 0-1)

Game time: 7 p.m. today

Last year: Batavia 34, Rochelle 28.

Last week: Glenbard South 19, Batavia 16; Kaneland 33, Rochelle 12.

Outlook: Hoping to even the ledger in this Western Sun Conference contest, Batavia comes off an effort against Glenbard South in which it did everything but win. The Bulldogs' offensive line of Pat Martin, Sean Tews, Jeff Hartzell, Matt Mueller and Kyle Dee paved the way for 191 yards rushing, a team-high 84 of them from sophomore back Danny Sieton. Add fullback Braden Hartmann's 74 yards rushing and 31 from Emund Kabba and the Bulldogs did their best not to miss Pete Koczmara, who this week had an MRI on his injured knee. Batavia surrendered 208 yards through the air, but a Sieton touchdown run and Mike Clopton's 18-yard field goal held Glenbard South off until 1:27 left to play. What this all translates to is continued improvement offensively and, with only 105 rushing yards allowed last week, a positive outlook against Wing-T power Rochelle. "They're very disciplined," Batavia coach Mike Gaspari said. "They'll try to take one possession to run off a quarter. ...We don't see a team that comes off the ball with quite the amount of frenzy that they do." Defensive linemen Brian Wilson and Alex Lyons can create frenzy, too, and if they control gaps it'll allow the Bulldogs' linebackers and defensive backs a little clearer shot at tackling Rochelle backs Josh Bernardin, Gabriel Montez and Evan Tracy. Bernardin ran for 102 yards against Kaneland, and the other two each scored touchdowns. Quarterback Brett Metzger threw the ball just 4 times, for 41 yards. The goal defensively is to force Rochelle into second- and third-and-long situations. That will assuredly also be Rochelle's goal as well against Batavia sophomore quarterback, Noel Gaspari. But in a ball-control game against Glenbard South, the coach's son continued to grow behind center. On the Bulldogs' scoring drive that put them ahead on Clopton's field goal, Noel Gaspari called three audibles that his father said "went from a play that was OK to a play that was outstanding." Coach Gaspari said this is the first sophomore quarterback who's called audibles in his 25 years at Batavia. Led by Hartmann's team-leading 133 yards rushing with 4 touchdowns on 31 carries, look for Batavia to add to its 499 yards rushing against opponents' 368 - while avoiding the turnovers that last year allowed Rochelle to take a halftime lead by scoring twice in a minute.

Next week: Batavia at Kaneland (2-1, 1-0), Sept. 25; Rochelle at Yorkville (1-2, 0-1).