ELGIN – Batavia achieved three goals Friday with its 49-12 thumping of Elgin.
Winning the Upstate Eight Conference River Division championship and completing its second undefeated regular season in a row were two objectives the Bulldogs (9-0, 6-0) have been striving for all season.
The third, completing the game on a muddy Memorial Field turf without injury, was added to the list when the team arrived in Elgin.
“The only things that could happen on this field could be really bad things, so I am very pleased that we executed under these conditions and everyone is healthy,” said Batavia coach Dennis Piron.
The only casualties were the formerly white Bulldog uniforms.
“The team is very excited,” Piron said. “They wanted to go 9-0 and win conference. They achieved a lot of their regular-season goals, and now we are looking forward to the playoffs.”
Anthony Scaccia scored both of Batavia’s first-quarter touchdowns. His first score on the Bulldogs’ opening drive came on a 72-yard run, his longest of the season. The junior running back scored again on the team’s second drive on an 8-yard run.
Adam Hunger’s 4-yard run on a pitch from quarterback Micah Coffey extended Batavia’s lead to 20-0 on the team’s first drive of the second quarter. Tyler Miller’s 21-yard run with two minutes left in the half and Daniel Albrecht’s fourth successful extra point gave the Bulldogs a 28-0 cushion.
Elgin (1-8, 0-6) threatened to score on its next possession. A Batavia pass interference call put the Maroons in the red zone for the first time. Forest Gilbertson ended the threat when he picked off Elgin quarterback Ryan Sitter’s pass at the 2-yard line.
Batavia opened the second half with its fifth touchdown on Miller’s 15-yard run.
A 60-yard pass from Coffey to Rourke Mullins with 7:27 left in the third quarter kept the onslaught coming.
Elgin got on the board late in the third quarter. Dontrell Gaddy, who took over the offense from Sitter in the second half, threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to Malik Dunner. Gaddy connected with Joesph DeBrocke in the fourth quarter for 54 yards for the team’s second score.
Albrecht, who replaced Coffey at quarterback, scored on a 29-yard run with 3:41 left in the game to complete Batavia’s scoring.
“We were running inside a lot, and they were taking that away, so we decided to go with a fake to see what we could get on an end around,” Albrecht said about the play. “Luckily, I had great blocking outside, and I made a cut back and was able to get in the end zone.”
BATAVIA 49 ELGIN 12
BATAVIA 14 14 14 7
ELGIN 0 0 6 6
HOW THEY SCORED First Quarter B – Scaccia 72-yard run (kick good) 8:43 B – Scaccia 28-yard run (kick good) 5:32 Second Quarter B – Hunger 4-yard run (kick good) 7:35 B – Miller 21-yard run (kick good) 1:58 Third Quarter B – Miller 15-yard run (kick good) 11:09 B – Mullins 60-yard pass from Coffey (kick good) 7:27 E – Dunner 33-yard pass from Gaddy (two point conversion failed) 3:08 Fourth Quarter E – DeBrocke 54-yard pass from Gaddy 5:41 B – Albrecht 29-yard run (kick good) 341 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING – Elgin Gaddy 2-4, Dunner 5-14, Sitter 3 – (-10), Clemons 17-55, Page 3-2, Totals: 30-65. Batavia: Coffey 3-(-1), Thielk 2-18, Miller 3-69, Hunger 1-4, Albrecht 4-29, Ward 2- (-5), Hansen 6-23, Totals: 28-260. PASSING – Elgin: Sitter 5-10-36-0, Gaddy 3-7-123-2, Batavia: Coffey 7-13-170-1, Albrecht 0-1 RECEIVING – Elgin: Gaddy 1-0, Higgins 2-15, Dunner 2-69, DeBrocke 3-75 Totals: 8-159. Batavia: Mullins 1-60, Thiel 2-43, Strittmatter 1-27, Miller 2-19, Dean 1-21, Totals: 7-170
TOTAL OFFENSE – Elgin 224, Batavia 430
SOPHOMORE GAME – Batavia 24, Elgin 6