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Dornink, Batavia run over Phillips

Batavia senior running back Josh Dornink ran for three touchdowns, and the Bulldogs rolled over Chicago Phillips 33-6 in a season-opening victory.

"It's thrilling [to have Dornink and Jalen Buckley]. They're great leaders and great people. They're captains for a reason," Batavia coach Dennis Piron said.

"Between them and then AJ [Sanders], showing how special he can be. [Wideout Drew] Gerke [is] a playmaker. Had three clutch catches that moved chains for us…A young O-line dealt with a lot of adversity. [Phillips] stunts a lot and they have some talent up front and made it tough."

In the first half, Dornink connected on two rushing scores of 3-yards and 33-yards, respectively, to give the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.

After another Phillips punt, Batavia quarterback Ryan Boe connected with slot receiver AJ Sanders for a 34-yard strike. The extra point was blocked, but they maintained the 20-0 lead into the half, despite two turnovers by Boe in the first half.

Bulldogs senior linebacker Drew Bartels had three first half sacks and limited the Wildcats to 76 rushing yards on six first half possessions.

After the Bulldogs fumbled the opening kickoff for the second half Phillips was rewarded with a 8-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Turner to Dayvone Rainey, but the two point conversion was thwarted.

Batavia senior two-way star Buckley needed just five plays to answer for a nifty 40-yard scoring run.

Dornink scored his final touchdown with 4:57 left to ice his impressive season-opening 12-rush, 79-yard season debut. Buckley countered with 86 yards on the ground.

Boe finished with 135 yards passing and had three turnovers.

"…[Boe], a sophomore quarterback, in [his] first varsity football game that had been playing freshman ball last year, he made some pretty spectacular throws," Piron said. "He has a lot of upside there."

Phillips was paced by Rainey's 124 yards on the ground. Turner had 41 passing yards and one touchdown.

Batavia's Drew Gerke (11) carries the ball during the first game of the season against Phillips in Batavia on Friday, Aug. 27, 2021. Sandy Bressner/sbressner@shawmedia.com
Batavia quarterback Ryan Boy (21) looks to hand the ball off during the first game of the season against Phillips in Batavia on Friday, Aug. 27, 2021. Sandy Bressner/sbressner@shawmedia.com
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