ELGIN – The Batavia football team completed its first major step toward defending its IHSA Class 6A football state championship Friday by officially qualifying for the playoffs.
The Bulldogs’ 48-13 win against Elgin was Batavia’s sixth straight after a season-opening loss to Oswego.
Batavia (6-1, 5-0 Upstate Eight Conference River) used its ground game to take control against the overmatched Maroons (0-7, 0-5).
All seven Bulldog touchdowns were scored by the team’s running backs as Batavia gained more than 250 yards on the ground.
Junior Zach Garrett led the way, gaining 133 yards and crossing the goal line four times.
Garrett scored on runs of 4 and 7 yards in the first eight minutes to give the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead after the first quarter.
He scored the first two touchdowns of the second quarter on runs of 20 and 3 yards. Noah Frazier scored the team’s fifth touchdown of the half on a 1-yard run with 3:49 left in the second quarter, giving the Bulldogs a 35-0 halftime lead.
Thomas Kamotez scampered across the goal line on a 3-yard run to put Batavia up 41-0 halfway through the third quarter and start the running clock.
Backup quarterback Greg Drake scored the final touchdown on an 8-yard run with 4 minutes left in the game.
Evan Acosta started under center for Batavia and completed 7 of 17 passes for 70 yards. Drake took over in the fourth quarter.
Batavia’s defense stopped two of Elgin’s drives with interceptions in the end zone. Brett Bowman grabbed both pass attempts by Maroons quarterback Dontrell Gaddy.
The Bulldogs also blocked a 36-yard field goal attempt by Elgin.
Gaddy was Batavia’s biggest headache of the night. The sophomore gained 141 yards on 20 carries. Early in the third quarter, he left the field limping, but returned after one series.
He was not slowed down, as he threw two fourth-quarter scoring passes, one to Jordan Smith for 65 yards and one to Johnny Higgins for 50 yards.
Batavia’s next challenge is a much-anticipated showdown Friday with unbeaten Geneva, which beat West Chicago to also remain unbeaten in conference play.
BATAVIA 48, ELGIN 13
Batavia 14 21 6 7 - 48
ELGIN 0 0 0 13 - 13
HOW THEY SCORED First quarter B – Garrett 4 run (Morgano kick) 11:17 B - Garrett 7 run (Morgano Kick) 8:04) Second quarter B – Garrett 20 run (Morgano kick) 11:38 B – Garrett 3 run (Morgano kick) 8:45 B – Frazier 1 run (Morgano kick) 3:49 Third quarter B – Thomas 3 run (kick failed) 6:51 Fourth quarter E – Smith 65 pass from Gaddy (Sallis kick) 7:35 B – Drake 8 run (Morgano kick) 4:13 E - Higgins 50 pass from Gaddy (2 point conversion failed) 1:24
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING – Elgin: Miller-Allen 1- minus 5, Gaddy 20-141, Smith 1-8, Higgins 1-0, Sallis 3-18 Totals: 26-162. Batavia: Acosta 2- minus 7, Garrett 16-133 , Frazier 3-61, Kamontez 3-41, Drake 1-8, Hallberg 2-21, Dress 1-0 Totals: 28-257. PASSING – Elgin: Gaddy 6-19-2-153 Batavia: Acosta 7-17-0-70 RECEIVING – Elgin: Smith 2-71, Douglas 3-32, Higgins 1-50 Totals: 6-153 Batavia: Coffey 1-22, Piron 2-28, Garrett 1-1 Hlara 1-6, Stuttle 1-6, Shubert 1-7 Totals: 7-70 TOTAL OFFENSE – Elgin 315 , Batavia 327