Druley: Study sessions go overtime for Batavia football team

Batavia High School’s Learning Resource Center hosts its share of visitors during the weekends. Around 6 p.m. on the past two Sundays, the LRC has housed football film study as the Bulldogs continue their push through the Class 6A playoffs.

Should the team meet up for two more movie nights, it will mean the ultimate – Batavia will be on its way to the state championship game.

“These sessions, they’ve been really good just because we get a chance to get a first look at the team we’re playing,” senior fullback/defensive lineman Alec Lyons said. “We’re all there, we’re all calmed down. It’s Sunday evening. We just watch film, one play at a time.”

Coaches do their share of replaying and freeze-framing, but absorbing and internalizing plays over and over again sure beats sprints. Traditionally a guaranteed off-day during the course of the regular season – when Friday night games were the main attraction – Batavia has amended its schedule for the playoffs, when Saturday competition is more often in play.

The unbeaten Bulldogs have thought little of their extra time together. It’s not like they’re sweating through an extra workout, and to still be playing a fall sport when winter teams have started practicing must mean Batavia is doing something right.

“It’s not too much,” said senior linebacker Austin Higgins. “It’s a physical break, but we’re still mentally practicing.”

Getting an early jump on film study certainly helped the Bulldogs toward Saturday’s second-round playoff victory against Lake Forest. Batavia especially keyed on watching Scouts running back Owen Williams, and that diligence showed as Williams gained only four yards on 14 carries in the Bulldogs’ 31-17 victory.

Lakes, Batavia’s opponent in this weekend’s quarterfinals, boasts another big back in junior Direll Clark, who rushed 17 times for 210 yards and three touchdowns in a second-round win against Grant. Sounds like a sequel. The Bulldogs still don’t figure to regard the Clark footage as a scary movie. Until further notice, they’re emerging from the film room with the same review:

“Take it to them next week,” Lyons said. “That’s what we’re going to try to do.”

Out in the open: The Kaneland boys cross country team showcased “camouflaging” in the late stages of the state series, sporting nondescript, all-white uniforms to deter rival teams from packing up with the Knights in the important race for points. Don’t expect more of the same from runners when indoor track begins in January. The team’s black-and-white striped singlets aren’t going anywhere, largely because of the difference in strategy between the two sports.

“When you’re in track you can actually see who’s lining up, and you already pretty much know who’s in your race,” Kaneland senior Nate Rehkopf said. “Cross country, you’re all lined up [across a field], so you can’t know everybody on the other teams.”

• Kevin Druley is a sportswriter for the Kane County Chronicle. He can be reached at 630-845-5347 or kdruley@shawmedia.com.