Batavia ‘D‘ dominates Bartlett

Updated: September 16, 2011 11:34PM

Batavia’s football team heard the whispers.

The Bulldogs heard that they hadn’t played anybody. The program hasn’t won a playoff game since finishing second in Class 6A in 2006. Longtime coach Mike Gaspari retired, handing the reigns to Dennis Piron.

Friday, the Bulldogs delivered a message to anybody that doubted them.

Batavia picked off Bartlett quarterback A.J. Bilyeu five times en route to a 35-13 win.

“We had a couple of years where we were down a little bit, but we’re not now,” Piron said. “The sky is the limit. We’re a really good football team.”

Up only 7-0 at the half, Batavia (4-0) took advantage of some mistakes from Bilyeu, an Air Force recruit, to pull away. Jon Gray jumped in front of a Bilyeu pass with 8:26 left in the third and took it 79 yards for a score to make it 14-0.

“I saw him give (the receiver) a hitch sign, because I saw it earlier in the game,” Gray said. “I knew the guy was going to hitch, so I just jumped it when I saw him take his three-step drop, saw the sideline and just went.”

Three plays later, Bilyeu threw another pick. On the next play, Noel Gaspari hit Zach Strittmatter for a 21-yard score to suddenly make it 21-0.

Gray had three of the Bulldogs’ interceptions, giving him five in four games this season.

“We knew they had some tough receivers and it was going to be a challenge for our corners,” Gray said. “We just really keyed on (Zach Karys and Lorenzo Mitchell) and shut them down pretty well. It was just a team effort.”

Bartlett got on the board on a 1-yard score from sophomore James Butler with 4:08 left in the third, but the Bulldogs wasted no time getting the points back. Sophomore Anthony Thielk took the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, making it 28-7 and putting the Bulldogs in control.

With the win, Batavia finds itself one win away from qualifying for the playoffs, with a potential showdown of undefeated rivals against Geneva looming in two weeks.

“It’s pretty amazing,” Gray said. “Much better feeling than last year in the locker room. Everyone’s excited about it. We’re looking to go undefeated, hopefully.”

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.