Batavia overpowers Elgin despite penalties

Updated: October 7, 2011 11:17PM

Even when things appear to be perfect they often aren’t.

On the surface, Batavia’s 49-0 rout of visiting Elgin Friday night was perfect. It just wasn’t.

True, the Bulldogs (7-0 overall, 4-0 Upstate Eight River) took another step toward a conference championship and a possible undefeated season but penalties continue to be a burden.

“We’re disappointed again because we’ve worked hard,” Batavia coach Dennis Piron said. “Our aggressiveness sometimes gets the best of us and it will hurt us down the line if we can’t curtail those penalties.”

The Bulldogs were called twice for roughing the passer and also had an illegal block in the back, a personal foul and a couple holding penalties.

“It’s about two, three weeks in a row now,” Piron said. “We have to do a better job.”

There were plenty of positives to go around. The Bulldogs showed no letdown after an emotional victory over Geneva a week ago and the rotating offensive line of centers Tim Wiley and Ben Link, guards Brock Batka and Zack Shoettes and tackles Adam Hunger, Nick Pappas and Sebastian Vermaas opened huge holes in Elgin’s (1-6, 0-5) defense.

Don Guzaldo (seven carries, 83 yards) scored on runs of three and 38 yards, Alec Lyons (4-42) pounded in from a yard out and Alex Moore (8-85) sprinted in on a six-yard run. And quarterback Noel Gaspari (8-10, 144 yards) threw touchdown passes of six yards to Evan Zeddies and 70 yards to Anthony Thielk on a screen pass.

Elgin, already lacking depth, lost three players to injuries in the first quarter. Standout running back Dennis Moore (hand), sophomore running back Jaylon Clemons (ankle) and wide receiver Gage Teaschner (ankle) were not able to return.

© 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.