Batavia regroups with win over Glenbard North
After suffering one of the toughest losses imaginable just six days earlier, Batavia's football team displayed a sign of toughness Friday night that was evident during last year's Class 6A championship run.
A fierce pass rush, spearheaded by senior linebacker Jake Hlava and senior defensive ends Josh Leonhard and Noah Frazier, propelled the Bulldogs (1-1) to a convincing 23-12 nonconference triumph over Glenbard North (0-2) at Weber Field in Carol Stream.
The win helped rinse away the unpleasant aftertaste of last Saturday's 40-38 season-opening loss to Oswego. That game was decided on a 24-yard touchdown pass on an untimed down following a Bulldogs defensive penalty.
"It was hard to forget, but we didn't dwell on it," Frazier said. "Now it's in the back of our minds that we can't let that happen again. It also served as a motivator because we didn't want to start the season 0-2."
Trying to avoid an 0-2 start for the first time since 2003, the Bulldogs grabbed an early 7-0 lead on Kyle Niemiec's 37-yard touchdown strike to junior receiver Canaan Coffey, who made a nice move to slip past a Panthers defender near the 10-yard line before diving into the end zone.
After the defense forced a three-and-out series, the Bulldogs marched 62 yards in 8 plays to pad their lead.
Frazier capped the drive when he bulldozed into the end zone from 2 yards out to give the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead with 9:36 left in the second quarter.
Defensively, the Bulldogs enjoyed a near-perfect first half. They limited the Panthers to just 38 yards of total offense - all of them coming on the ground.
"Our defense got after it," said Batavia coach Dennis Piron. "Hlava, Frazier, Leonhard (Jon) Wall. They're strong, physical, fast kids. Last week they were negated somewhat because Oswego is so big up front. But all of those guys got after it tonight with lots of speed and aggressiveness."
One of the Bulldogs' only missed assignments of the night came when Devion Hodges raced 71 yards for a touchdown on the Panthers' first play from scrimmage in the second half that cut the deficit to 14-6.
However, the Bulldogs came right back on their next defensive series and forced a safety as Hlava and Joseph Gross teamed up for a combination sack of Glenbard North quarterback Brett Gasiorowski in the end zone to make it 16-6 after three quarters.
"The pursuit never stopped on that play," Hlava said. "We had three guys chasing him (Gasiorowski) all the way across the end zone and we got him. We never quit."
Zach Garrett sealed the decision with a 6-yard TD run with 5:41 remaining.
"I'm really proud of the preparation all these kids had this week and how they all stuck together," Piron said. "We were disappointed (last week), but we also know that we're a good football team."
It was a tough game physically for the Panthers, who lost starting tailback Vittorio Tricase to a second-quarter shoulder injury before Gasiorowski also went down with an injury in the second half.
"We have to get our ground game going because that's what we do," said Panthers coach Ryan Wilkens, whose team fell to 0-2 for the first time 1995. "All we can do now is work on getting better."