advertisement

Cary-Grove at Batavia has plenty of playoff history behind it

Nine years have passed, but both coaches remember the game like it just happened.

Brad Seaburg was Cary-Grove's sophomore head coach and a varsity assistant under future Illinois High School Football Coaches Association hall-of-famer Bruce Kay when the Trojans visited Batavia for a Class 6A quarterfinal on Nov. 11, 2006.

Cary-Grove's head coach of the last five years said he remembers that Saturday afternoon road game "very, very vividly."

Batavia fifth-year head coach Dennis Piron was his program's defensive coordinator under IHSFCA hall-of-famer Mike Gaspari that day. He recalls the 10-1 Bulldogs being pitted as steep underdogs against the 11-0 Trojans, who were two years removed from a Class 7A runner-up finish, led by third-year starters Andrew Lorman and John Mago.

Cary-Grove was the No. 1 seed in the 16-team northern bracket of Class 6A. Batavia was No. 5.

"That year they were the team that was going to walk to the state championship game," Piron recalled. "The conversations were about how great Cary-Grove was and how we were lucky to be there. I remember this highly regarded, tough team with a great defense and an unstoppable offense that was coming to Batavia."

Cary-Grove indeed looked tough in the wake of a 49-7 win over Oak Lawn and a 28-0 second-round playoff win over rival Crystal Lake South.

The Bulldogs had been building their own momentum with a 35-12 win over Crystal Lake Central and a 40-37 thriller against St. Viator. Batavia survived the latter when receiver Alex Warner caught a tipped pass from sophomore backup quarterback Jordan Coffey and went 70 yards.

The 2006 quarterfinal between Batavia and Cary-Grove turned out to be a classic. The Bulldogs drew within 14-13 with 56.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter when quarterback Alex Schroeder's short, tipped pass fell into the hands of receiver Tharyn Wright, who was lying on his back in the end zone.

Batavia then took the lead when Schroeder made a great play-action fake and threw to Jordan Church for a successful 2-point conversion.

With time running short Cary-Grove's unrelenting triple-option offense marched down the field with precision. Quarterback Bill Meyer completed 4 of 5 passes for 33 yards and Nick Parfitt gained 21 yards on 3 carries as the Trojans drove to the Batavia 11-yard line with 7.3 seconds left.

Then came the play of the game.

On third down Meyer was hurried on a pass attempt by Western Sun Conference defensive player of the year Kevin McFarland. Not only did Meyer's pass fall incomplete, he was called for intentional grounding. The ball was placed at the 26-yard line with four seconds remaining and Cary-Grove's 43-yard field goal attempt fell short.

"We mentioned it to our kids, but it's hard to make that motivation because these kids were in fifth grade then," Seaburg said. "But just about every coach on our staff was around then and they remember."

The 15-14 victory gave the Bulldogs 11 wins in a season for the first time and sent them to their first state semifinal, which they won 28-0 over archrival Geneva to gain their first berth in a state championship game, which they lost to Normal, 30-20.

"They missed the kick and it was chaos. It was totally ludicrous," Piron recalled. "It was the biggest win in the history of our program over a team that was picked to beat us by far. We were kind of finding our way and up and coming. That win propelled us to where we are now in a lot of ways."

Batavia went on to reach a Class 6A semifinal in 2011 and won the 6A state title in 2013.

Cary-Grove has since won the Class 6A title in 2009 and enjoyed runner-up finishes in 2012 and 2014.

The teams are more evenly matched nine years later. Cary-Grove (10-1) enters Saturday's game as the No. 4 seed in the 32-team field. Batavia (10-1) is No. 5.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.