Despite mistakes, Lemont still downs Bulldogs

Batavia football coach Mike Gaspari couldn't have asked for a more fortunate start to Saturday night's IHSA Class 6A playoff opener against No. 1 Lemont.

His No. 8 Bulldogs turned two Indians' turnovers inside Lemont's 30-yard line into first half touchdowns to keep pace with the favorite.

In the end, the Bulldogs' offense could not create points without the Indians' help as Lemont picked up a 23-14 win to move to 10-0.

"We knew we'd have to score more than 14," Gaspari said. "Unfortunately, we just didn't play as well as we needed to offensively. ... I thought at halftime we'd score at least two more touchdowns, maybe three."

The Indians will host No. 4 Geneva (8-2), a 69-28 winner over Oak Forest, next week knowing they need a better showing on both sides of the ball.

"I don't know if we ever really felt like we were shutting them down," Lemont coach Eric Michaelsen said. "The defensive gameplan was a solid one. They took advantage when we made mistakes. The second half, we didn't make as many and that helped us do a better job defensively."

Lemont, which averaged 39 points per game and held opponents to 13 during the regular season, needed a little luck to compete below its norms against an inspired Bulldogs' squad, playing for Gaspari who is retiring after 26 years at the helm.

"Probably being my dad's last game, you wanted to win at least one playoff game," son and starting quarterback Noel Gaspari said. "We tried our hardest."

Mike Anzalone's two-yard touchdown run seconds before halftime gave the Indians a seven-point lead and on Batavia's first play of its second possession following the break, Lemont's Mike Hayes tackled Bulldogs' running back Emund Kabba in the end zone for a safety and a two-possession lead.

"It definitely did (make us comfortable)," Michaelsen said. "We didn't know how good their field goal kicker was. We were never really comfortable until there a minute-two and we could kneel on it."

Kabba couldn't handle the pitch left, losing nine yards on what Mike Gaspari saw as a potential big gain.

"Boy, that was there," he said. "We were going to pop that for a long ways. It's just a mistake that happens and the young man that it happened to has been a tremendous performer the whole year."

To start the game, Lemont quarterback Mike Hall punched home one-yard run to cap the Indians 79-yard opening drive.

Hall, however, was picked off by Batavia's Cole Gardner on the first play off Lemont's second possession and the ball was returned to the Indians' 28.

Gaspari hit Joe Sortino on an 11-yard fade to the left end zone to tie the score.

Lemont responded with a nine-play, 76-yard drive, finished by a Hall to Lee Taylor 12-yard touchdown.

"We weren't 100 percent, but we battled enough, dug deep and got win," said Hall, who was missing two starting lineman to block for him.

The Indians forced a Batavia punt following the score, but the ball hit a Lemont blocker at the Indians' 8-yard line where it was recovered by the Bulldogs (5-5).

That set up Kabba's four-yard run to the right pylon to tie the score at 14-14 and keep open questions whether No. 1 would go down.

The victory wasn't cemented until Lemont defensive back Danny Lombardo sealed the victory with an interception of Gaspari with 1:02 left in the game.

"More as a dad than a coach, I'm happy my son got to play with this group of seniors," said Mike Gaspari, whose team was 2-7 a year ago, but rebounded through strong leadership this year. "They are a tremendous group of kids."

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