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Batavia thumps Geneva

Riley Cooper's night did not get off to the best start.

Cooper threw an interception (by Geneva's Ian Hanson) on his second pass attempt of the game during Batavia's first offensive possession.

However, the rest of his night was near perfection.

Cooper completed 14 of 16 passes for 297 yards and a pair of touchdowns and ran for another score as the Bulldogs (6-0, 4-0) rolled to a 49-0 Upstate Eight Conference River Division victory over the Vikings (3-3, 2-2) Friday night at Burgess Field.

"The first interception - it was getting the jitters out," said Cooper. "My coaches on the sideline were telling me that they've got my back and we'll come back strong."

Cooper heeded their advice, completing his next 10 consecutive passes for 253 yards and a pair of touchdown tosses to senior receiver Eric Peterson (4 catches, 100 yards).

"The offensive line did a great job today and the receivers helped me out," said Cooper. "I'm throwing 5-yard passes and they're turning them into 30-yard gains."

After a scoreless first quarter, Bulldogs tailback Reggie Phillips capped a 12-play, 92-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run and he bounced to the outside for a 3-yard scoring run on their next possession to make it 14-0.

Following the defense's second straight 3-and-out series, Cooper connected with Peterson for a 51-yard TD strike as the Bulldogs extended their lead to 21-0 with 3:27 left in the second quarter.

"He was frustrated (by the early interception)," Batavia coach Dennis Piron said of Cooper. "He had it but he just tried to toss it in there and didn't zip it. But he did get in a groove there. He's a wonderful quarterback."

The Bulldogs' defense, which recorded is fourth shutout in 6 games, stuffed Geneva on 3 plays from inside the 4-yard line during the final minute of the first half to preserve the 21-0 advantage.

"One of our running backs, Elijah Green, came up to me and said, 'that was more powerful and game changing for the offense than it was for a score,'" said Bulldogs senior defensive back Michael Niemiec.

"We lost a lot of momentum there," said Vikings coach Rob Wicinski. "At halftime, we were trying to regroup. We just didn't have enough weapons to fight through that. Our offense wasn't able to get enough first downs to keep the defense off the field."

Batavia, which outgained Geneva 571-171, made it 28-0 as Cooper capped its first second-half series with a 1-yard keeper before throwing a 10-yard TD pass to Peterson 3 minutes later for a 35-0 lead.

Jeremiah Evers (11 carries, 94 yards) and Art Taylor (10 carries, 73 yards) added fourth-quarter TD runs as the Bulldogs remain unbeaten.

"I think offensively we were a little bothered by the fact that we could have had 35 points last week (in a 7-0 win over St. Charles East)," said Piron. "We had a frustrating week but our practices were great."

Images: Batavia vs. Geneva football

  Batavia's Eric Peterson turns to see no Geneva defends around him as he scores a touchdown Friday in Geneva. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Geneva's Ian Hanson catches a long pass as Batavia's Tom Stuttle defends Friday in Geneva. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Geneva quarterback Bobby Murray heaves a long pass to Garret Sneed as Batavia's Andrew Heinz pressures him Friday in Geneva. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Batavia's Tom Stuttle gains yardage as Geneva's Zachary Pronenko reaches for him Friday in Geneva. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Geneva's Jack Krieger is taken down by Batavia's Nicholas Conger Friday in Geneva. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Batavia's John Golden breaks up a pass intended for Geneva's Max McCloughan. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
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