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Batavia hammers Elgin

Batavia had a simple game plan against Elgin Friday night in the schools' Upstate Eight Conference River Division football game.

"We just wanted to pound the ball," Batavia offensive tackle Evan Day. "We just wanted to pound it down their throats."

Batavia amassed more than 300 yards of first-half offense, scoring on its opening five possessions while forcing the Maroons to punt on the same number of drives.

The Bulldogs were never threatened in Batavia, securing a playoff bid in the process with a 49-0 victory.

Batavia (6-1, 4-0) will face fellow league unbeaten and archrival Geneva next week in search of a fifth consecutive undefeated conference championship.

The Bulldogs' offensive line - center Colin Holden, guards Giovanni Garcia and Anthony Popela and tackles May and Jackson Lambert - thoroughly dominated the play.

Zach Garrett was the prime beneficiary for the Bulldogs.

The Batavia feature back - barely playing a quarter - had scoring runs of 15 and 26 yards to stake the Bulldogs to a 14-0 first-quarter lead.

The senior co-captain finished with 88 yards on a mere 7 carries.

Batavia starting quarterback Kyle Niemiec found Damontez Thomas and Cole Stokke for double-digit gains on back-to-back plays late in the first quarter; Canaan Coffey hauled in a 3-yard strike moments later for Batavia.

Batavia coach Dennis Piron started substituting liberally long before the halftime intermission.

"We started rotating out in the second quarter," May said. "It's good for the second-string guys to get in (the game). They're important to the team."

Elgin (0-7, 0-4) was hampered by critical dropped passes on offense, and several of its players were noticeably impacted by footing issues on the Bulldogs' grass field.

"The conditions were kind of cold, which made the field hard," Elgin quarterback Patrick Gallagher said. "It made it hard to dig your cleats into the ground. I was slipping a lot. (Some of the drops) were my fault as well. I could have led (the receivers) a little bit more."

Batavia tight end Glenn Albanese - who also played a critical role for the Bulldogs' run offense - made the score 28-0 in the second quarter when he caught the second Niemiec pass for a score from 27 yards away.

Niemiec had a final scoring strike to Nick Stuttle to conclude his evening late in the second quarter.

Elgin actually forced the only turnovers of the game, and it appeared as if Shareick Morris' 10-yard collaboration with Gallagher would avert the shutout.

But the Maroons were whistled for a chop block on the play; Elgin ultimately forfeited the ball on downs.

Thomas connected with Stokke out of the Wildcat for the Bulldogs' sixth score.

Johnny Walsh capped the scoring with a short run after a blocked punt late in the game.

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