Libby's 58-yard TD caps Wheaton North's comeback over Batavia
Karsten Libby, somehow, found himself all alone.
Trailing Batavia by five points late in the fourth quarter, Wheaton North tried the same play design that failed in the first half due to a penalty.
This time, it was dynamite up the left sideline from quarterback Max Howser.
Libby motored in for a stunning 58-yard go-ahead touchdown with 3:33 left in the game. Tyler O'Connor converted the two-point try as the Falcons rallied from 11 points down in the fourth quarter past Batavia 27-24 in Friday's DuKane Conference opener in Wheaton.
The Falcons (3-0, 1-0) came back from a 21-13 halftime deficit and limited the Batavia offense to a field goal in the second half.
"We've had that play for awhile," Libby said. "We knew that their safeties would fly to the ball so we were trying to take advantage of that. We knew they wouldn't really read the other side [of the field] so as they flew over, we just thought the coverage was going to be open."
"We tried the play earlier and it didn't work," Libby continued. "Got a penalty on that one. Tried it again, and succeeded."
After trading punts throughout the third quarter, Batavia kicker Alec Crum connected on a 30-yard field goal to give Batavia a 24-13 lead with 11:05 remaining in the fourth quarter.
On the ensuing Falcons' offensive drive, O'Connor (60 rushing yards) cooked up a 54-yard scamper to eventually cash in a 1-yard rushing score with 8:58 left. The two-point try failed on a pass breakup by Drew Gerke to maintain the 24-19 Bulldogs lead.
Batavia (1-2, 0-1) responded with a good drive, but the momentum was slammed shut after a fumble was recovered by Libby with 5:37 left.
Four plays later, Libby (three catches, 84 yards) found the end zone.
"The whole second half, we were really pounding the rock," Howser said. "We said at half: 'We've got to just work.' Our special teams, everything, our O-line, that's our biggest foundation of the team so we just kept running and running and then it finally opened up."
Batavia had one final shot, but a crucial hold backed the Bulldogs up to an eventual 4th-and-27. Falcons defensive back Walker Owens then stonewalled a Ryan Boe pass attempt to force turnover on downs and clinch the come-from-behind win.
Boe finished 5-of-10 for 87 passing yards with one touchdown and one interception. Ryan Whitwell had 141 rushing yards for Batavia.
"We had a chance to maybe ice it there; gave them a shot in the arm and gave them a chance to get back and come back in," Batavia coach Dennis Piron said. "We really felt like we had momentum driving there and that's crazy [the fumble] that happened. We'll have to take a look and see what occurred; maybe we missed a block. It felt like we had them on their heels.
"They battled ... they're a really good football team again this year," Piron continued. "Tough up front on both sides. Their skill guys are exceptional. Their quarterback and wildcat kid [O'Conner] are good and they've got a lot of really good football players. It's a very, very tough league [DuKane Conference] we play in. Everybody knows each other pretty well ... I like our team. I like where we're at. There are a couple little things right now we don't have 100% of yet. It'd make a big, big difference if we did."
In the first half, Batavia struck on its opening drive and capped it with a 19-yard Boe TD pass to Whitwell for the early 7-0 Batavia lead. Wheaton North immediately struck back An 81-yard Howser TD to Matt Kuczaj made it 7-6 Batavia with 4:02 left in the first quarter.
Boe was intercepted the following drive and Howser found Kuczaj for a 15-yard touchdown to take the 13-7 Falcons lead.
Gerke intercepted Howser the following Falcons drive and Whitwell ran in for a 56-yard score five plays later to make it 14-13 Batavia with 6:44 left in the half.
Three plays into the Falcons ensuing drive, Howser was pick-sixed by Drake Ostrander for the 40-yard return for a sudden momentum swing and 21-13 Batavia halftime lead.
"We felt like we had some penalties and some turnovers there in the first half that were, obviously were our mistakes," Falcons coach Joe Wardynski said. "We felt like if we could clean those things up and get back to running the football, we'd have a good chance to get back in the game in the second half. Our defense did a really good job. That's a very good team over there. For us to come out with a win, I'm very proud of our boys."
Luke Beedle had 88 rushing yards, while Howser finished 6-of-12 for 183 passing yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.
Last season's overtime loss to Batavia, admittedly, was in the back of the Falcons' minds.
"Oh yeah," Libby said. "Definitely with the senior class, we knew what it felt like to lose to them and then we just couldn't let that happen on our home turf."