Batavia determined not to let down

Your 2011 Batavia Bulldogs football team: 9 wins, zero losses.

That’s a first.

“To say you’re the first team to do that in your high school, in your century, that makes it pretty special,” said Batavia coach Dennis Piron.

Not just one century, in fact, but two. It helped the Bulldogs earn a No. 1 seed in the Class 6A playoff bracket, their first outright conference title since 2003, and playoff-pairings face time on television productions by Batavia Access Television and Comcast SportsNet.

It’s all positive for the program — which is why it would be a shame to squander it all with a first-round playoff loss to No. 16 seed Notre Dame (5-4).

“Every week’s a season, that’s kind of the theme,” Piron said. “And we’ve got to prepare for these guys.”

One can never discount a team out of the East Suburban Catholic Conference, home to Joliet Catholic and Carmel. Those two, along with Nazareth and Marist — all playoff teams with a combined record of 28-8 — dealt coach Mike Hennessey’s Don’s their four losses. Notre Dame is one of two 6A qualifiers, along with Morgan Park, that’s allowed more points than it’s scored.

“Record is one thing, but strength of schedule is a whole other issue,” Piron said.

The Dons, who enter their fifth straight playoff appearance on the strength of victories over Marian Catholic and St. Patrick, run a four-man defensive front and a spread offense, though Piron said quarterback Nick Pieruccini does the bulk of the team’s running. All-ESCC receiver-defensive back Connor Gavin “is probably their top weapon,” Piron said.

“The big issue with their defense is they move around a lot,” he said. “They cover shift — they show you one look, then they’re not in it.”

Notre Dame will have several issues with Batavia. The Bulldogs have no real weakness defensively, from a deep four-man defensive line to 100-tackle middle linebacker Sean Oroni to a secondary led by Jon Gray and Kevin Schroeder that has intercepted 17 passes.

It’s a fast defense that’s allowed only 8.8 points a game, second among 6A playoff qualifiers to Lemont’s measly 5-point allowance. Batavia’s average scoring margin of 35.4 points leads the class.

Offensively the Bulldogs have averaged 44.2 points, second among 6A playoff teams behind Normal-Community West. It’s not just the number of points they’ve scored, it’s how they’ve scored them.

Out of the spread offense quarterback Noel Gaspari has completed 114 of 159 passes (71.4 percent) for 2,061 yards, 20 touchdowns to just 3 interceptions. Receivers Zach Strittmatter, Gray and Evan Zeddies and tight end Cole Gardner have each caught at least 16 passes, but 14 different players have caught a pass.

Dom Guzaldo and Alex Moore do most of the running, but Alec Lyons gets the heavy lifting inside. His 9 touchdown runs tie Guzaldo for team honors.

“If you watch us on film — and I’m sure they have — there’s an awful lot of things you have to deal with,” Piron said.

After all Batavia’s accomplished this season, a first-round loss would be an awful thing to deal with. Piron doesn’t see his seniors taking anyone lightly.

“I think they have been rolling forward to this week, this moment, this month, for four years,” the coach said. “They’ve done the job every week, but there’s always been a greater sense of purpose.”