Batavia rolls past Larkin
Batavia's football team was not about to let a little rain be bothersome.
Scoring on 6 of their 7 first-half offensive possessions while also adding a defensive touchdown, the Bulldogs (2-1, 1-0) put their potent attack on display during a 49-6 Upstate Eight Conference River Division victory over visiting Larkin (0-3, 0-1) Friday night in Batavia.
The homecoming win extended Batavia's UEC River winning streak to 20 games dating back to the 2010 campaign.
"We were very efficient," said Batavia coach Dennis Piron. "Homecoming is always a tough week for your school to be focused but I thought they came out and were ready to play."
Larkin also appeared ready at the outset as junior Chevelle Clements returned the opening kick 50 yards to set the Royals up inside the Bulldogs' 40.
Despite a 4-yard gain by tailback Cameron Tomlin, the drive stalled when senior linebacker Joseph Gross sacked Larkin sophomore quarterback Elijah Hernandez for a 2-yard loss on 4th-and-4 from the Bulldogs' 34.
Five plays later, senior Jake Hlava found the end zone on a 12-yard run as the Bulldogs grabbed a 7-0 lead on their first offensive possession.
After the defense forced another 3-and-out series, senior tailback Blake Crowder capped a 5-play, 57-yard drive with a 26-yard TD run through the middle of the Royals' defense to extend the first-quarter lead to 14-0.
Crowder (4 carries, 89 yards), who began the season with a strained hamstring injury suffered during the final week of summer camp, also added a 28-yard TD run as part of the Bulldogs' 35-point second quarter.
The 5-7, 135-pound speedster felt his team had a built-in advantage with the slick playing conditions.
"A rainy game for our offense is a plus because we know where we're going," said Crowder, who combined with Zach Garrett (5 carries, 38 yards), Andrew Clark (4 carries, 29 yards), Keaton Drees (5 carries, 21 yards) and Hlava for a big chunk of Batavia's 226 rushing yards.
"We have a lot of good running backs and a great (offensive) line," he added. "When the holes are out there, it's like you can run anything."
Batavia scored 3 touchdowns within a 3-minute span in the second quarter to put the game out of reach.
Garrett's 6-yard TD run upped the margin to 21-0 before defensive end Noah Frazier recovered a fumble after a jarring hit by teammate Hlava and raced 47 yards for another score. Kamontez Thomas' 6-yard TD run made it 35-0.
"We've got a nice group of running backs who all have different strengths," said Piron. "We got Hlava into the mix a little this week and it was nice to have Crowder back healthy. He gets north and south quickly."
Canaan Coffey's 27-yard TD reception from quarterback Evan Acosta (4-of-8, 90 yards) with 17 seconds remaining in the first half closed out the scoring.
Outscored 152-24 in its first 3 games, Larkin avoided the shutout when Hernandez (3-for-10, 98 yards) tossed an 88-yard TD strike to senior receiver DeShawn Steward with 3:59 left in the second quarter.
"We improved in a lot of areas against one of the best teams in the state of Illinois," said Royals' first-year coach Dragan Teonic. "I thought our kids communicated well tonight and I thought they played with some class.
"We'll learn a lot from this game."