Gaspari’s injury not believed serious

Batavia made Dennis Piron smile with its play throughout a 46-34 victory at Geneva Friday night, then the first-year coach got even better news early Saturday morning.

Noel Gaspari, Batavia’s third-year starting quarterback, left Friday’s game late in the third quarter with a shoulder injury. Junior Dan Albrecht played the entire fourth quarter and led Batavia on a pair of game-clinching touchdown drives without attempting a pass.

There were some anxious moments on the Batavia sideline after the injury seeing Gaspari sitting on the bench with his shoulder pads off and not knowing the severity of the injury.

But Piron got a visitor to his house early Saturday morning with the news everyone at Batavia was hoping for.

“He came over at 1 a.m. and it is better than we could have ever hoped for,” Piron said via email. “He says it is minor and back within a week.”

Batavia will put its 6-0 record on the line when it returns to Upstate Eight Conference River Division play Friday night hosting Elgin. Friday’s victory in the 94th meeting with Geneva puts the Bulldogs in the driver’s seat to end the Vikings’ 7-year run as conference champions. Batavia’s last conference title came when the Bulldogs shared the title in 2006.