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Batavia overtakes South Elgin in 2nd half

If Batavia quarterback Kyle Niemiec felt he "wasn't playing his game" for much of the Bulldogs' Upstate Eight crossover 35-28 victory over visiting South Elgin on Friday night, one has to wonder what the Bulldogs' offense will look like in a few weeks.

Whatever was bothering the Batavia quarterback at halftime, with his team trailing 21-14, he straightened things out in his head to help the Bulldogs dominate the second half.

Niemiec connected on 18 of 30 passes for 269 yards and one touchdown, while his steady hand helped the Bulldog offense stay on the field in setting up four rushing touchdowns.

"The first half we were getting flustered," Niemiec said. "When I am not playing well, it just spills over to the other players. I was rushing things and not staying in the pocket."

Workhorse Zach Garrett scored three of those rushing touchdowns while piling up 130 yards on 25 carries.

"In the beginning we struggled a little bit, but our linemen kept fighting through it," Garrett said. "South Elgin's defense did a really nice job, but we were able to keep getting those five or six yards at a time."

Batavia (2-0) learned early that the South Elgin (1-1) has a few offensive weapons of its own. The Storm struck first when Andrew Kamienski grabbed a 2-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jacob AmRhein (17 of 35 for 158 yards).

The Bulldogs survived a turnover when Niemiec lost a fumble on the next possession, but the Storm went three-and-out and a poor punt set Batavia up at the South Elgin 29. Five plays later, Dana Anderson banged over from 4 yards out for a 7-6 lead.

Derek Kumerow had the Storm back on top in a flash, as in a 92-yard kickoff return flash. Nate Gomez ran in the two-point conversion for a 14-7 lead.

After Garrett tied the score with an 8-yard touchdown run, the teams engaged in a furious finish to the half. South Elgin failed to convert on another turnover, this one a Nikiel Williby interception. But the Storm got a 6-yard scoring pass from AmRhein to Jeffrey Kamienski with 1:08 left after offsetting penalties on a pass attempt out of a field goal formation gave South Elgin coaches time to consider going for the touchdown instead.

Batavia went all the way down the field in the last minute, but Niemiec's pass for Nick Stuttle in the end zone fell short with seconds remaining.

"Offensively, we are about ready to explode," Batavia coach Dennis Piron said. "As a coaching staff we are getting used to some new dynamics. We have a good offensive group, but we do have to cut down on our mistakes."

With the defense doing its job of holding the Storm scoreless for most of the second half, Batavia's offense used surgical precision to put things away on a 16-yard score from Garrett, a 10-yard touchdown pass from Niemiec to Canaan Coffey and another 5-yard scamper by Garrett with only 1:59 left in the game.

South Elgin went down fighting as AmRhein found Jaurice Thomas for a 7-yard touchdown pass with 49 seconds left.

Piron was pleased with his team's composure in coming back to control the second half.

"That was a good South Elgin team we beat, but they had quite a few guys playing both ways, and I think we wore them down," Piron said.

The Storm piled up 319 yards and 19 first downs, but ultimately the defense was on the field far too long and simply could not stop Batavia, which racked up 443 yards of its own.

"Going into this week, we knew we were going to have to prepare for a lot of things," South Elgin coach Pat Pistorio said of Batavia's plentiful playbook and balanced offense.

In a key turning point in the game, Pistorio put a lot of trust in his defense when calling for a fourth-down pass play near midfield that fell incomplete during the first possession of the second half.

Batavia took over on downs and quickly capped a 44-yard drive when Garrett cut back against the grain for his 16-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 21-21 early in the third quarter. South Elgin never recovered.

"We had problems with a couple of punts before that, but I really believe you have to convert on fourth down against the top tier teams, and I will continue to live that way," Pistorio said of his decision.

Images: Batavia over South Elgin, 35-28 in football

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