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Batavia beats Geneva for 9th straight year

Batavia continued its dominance over Geneva Friday night at Burgess Field.

Highlighted by Sam Barus' 71-yard punt return touchdown, the Bulldogs blanked the Vikings 42-0 in the DuKane Conference game.

The Bulldogs' 45th victory in the 101-year-old rivalry extended Batavia's winning streak over Geneva to nine years in a row and made the team playoff eligible for the 10th straight year.

"No this never gets old. This is the game of our season every single year," said Batavia coach Dennis Piron. "They had a 20-year winning streak against us. That ended in 1986. Since that point in time, they have been a very quality program, but we have been 100 games over 500. So to put that in perspective, getting that win, has meant all the world. If we want to be a local power or a state power, we can't be that kind of team without beating Geneva."

The Bulldogs rolled up a total of 353 yards on offense while holding Geneva to 84.

Junior quarterback Kyle Oroni completed 13 of 17 passes for 189 yards and three touchdowns. Wide receiver Trey Urwiler caught nine of the tosses for 146 yards.

Dondre Phillips was Batavia's rushing leader with seven carries for 63 yards and a TD.

Batavia (5-1, 4-0) scored on three of its four first half possessions. A 6-yard touchdown run by Quinn Urwiler capped the Bulldogs 7-play, 54-yard first drive of the game. On the Bulldogs' next possession, Oroni connected with Devin Cheany for an 8-yard touchdown pass to give Batavia a 14-0 first quarter lead.

With 17.4 seconds left in the half, Oroni threw a 20-yarder to Jack LaCasse, who was standing in the end zone, to put the Bulldogs up 21-0 at halftime.

Late in the third quarter, Barus caught a Geneva (0-6, 0-4) punt at the Bulldogs' 29-yard line, cut to the right sideline and scampered all the way to the end zone.

"We know that they like to play heavy left side so I figured our best chance was to go right," Barus said. "I started up the middle and I saw the lane and I just took it and beat everyone outside."

With time expiring at the end of the third quarter, Trey Urwiler caught a 29-yard pass TD pass from Oroni to extend Batavia's lead to 35-0 at the start of the fourth quarter.

Phillips closed out Batavia's scoring with a 2-yard run with 5:38 left in the game.

"They have a good team and we are still trying to figure ourselves out." Geneva coach Rob Wicinski said. "So things like this can happen."

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