Batavia football falls prey to Mt. Carmel

BATAVIA – Batavia football coach Dennis Piron is convinced his Bulldogs were capable of making another deep run.

One season after winning the IHSA Class 6A state championship, Batavia’s degree of postseason difficulty spiked with a bump up to 7A. The class ascent was compounded by drawing IHSA football brand name Mt. Carmel, which ended Batavia’s season Saturday, a 21-16 first-round triumph for the Caravan.

By seed, it was a significant update, but Mt. Carmel's rich playoff pedigree and wicked strength of schedule rendered the seeding hollow. The Bulldogs played the Caravan tough throughout, but were denied what would have been their first 7A win.

"This really is disappointing," Piron said. "I think Mt. Carmel's going to go a couple rounds here, who knows how far. … We think we're as good as most teams in the state of Illinois in Class 7A, and we would have loved the opportunity to play a few more of them. I'm disappointed for these kids that they don't get another game, they don't get another chance, that this had to be their last game, because they're never ready for it."

The defenses outplayed the offenses for much of the afternoon, and the score was tied at 7 at halftime. Batavia (8-2) carried momentum in the third quarter after a 25-yard Howie Morgano field goal made it 10-7 and the Bulldogs' stiffening defense then forced a Caravan punt.

But Batavia senior Nick Bernabei – who had blocked a Caravan punt during the second quarter – this time was flagged for roughing the punter, providing Mt. Carmel an automatic first down. The Caravan (6-4) went on to score the go-ahead touchdown on the drive.

Bernabei contended he caught part of the ball on the play, which would have meant no penalty, and Piron echoed that claim.

"I'm confident I got a piece of the ball, yeah," Bernabei said. " … It was fourth-and-long, then it was an automatic first down. That was a killer."

"That in essence was a turnover because it gave us the ball back," added Mt. Carmel coach Frank Lenti.

The Caravan finished the drive with a 3-yard TD run from A.J. Lewis at the 11:38 mark of the fourth quarter, moving ahead 14-10 after the extra point.

Batavia's offense couldn't score on its first two possessions of the fourth quarter, and by the time the Bulldogs had it back again, they trailed, 21-10, following another Lewis touchdown run with 2:37 to go in the game.

The Bulldogs struck quickly to make it a one-possession game as QB Kyle Niemiec – who shared duties, per the usual, with lefty counterpart Evan Acosta – hit top target Canaan Coffey on a 3-yard TD pass with 1:12 to play. But Batavia's two-point conversation attempt and the ensuing onside kick each failed, and the Bulldogs were left to lament missed opportunities.

Chief among them were the Bulldogs' inability to score in the second quarter after Bernabei's blocked punt gave Batavia possession at Mt. Carmel's 11-yard line. A costly sack moved Batavia out of field goal range.

"That was huge," Lenti said of his Caravan preventing the Bulldogs from parlaying the punt block into points. "I'm hoping that's showing some of the maturity of our defense because early in the year we didn't have that maturity."

While Mt. Carmel's split-back veer offense was effective at times, Piron thought the Bulldogs' defense largely upheld its end of the bargain and made the Caravan work to sustain drives. Senior cornerback Eddie Golden stripped Mt. Carmel receiver Bobby Stasaitis after a reception early in the second quarter, also pouncing on the fumble.

"I thought we did a great job defensively against an attack that's really geared for playoffs," Piron said. "It's geared for cold weather days. It's an attack that eats clock, it limits your possessions and really is very, very difficult to defend."

Piron acknowledged the loss packed extra emotional punch since his son, receiver Peyton Piron, is a senior, and many of his classmates have been around the family since elementary school.

Batavia, which had an eight-game winning streak snapped, knew it was in for a nontraditional first-round matchup when it saw Mt. Carmel pop up on the playoff pairings show last weekend. The Caravan have won 8A and 7A state titles the past couple years, and are among the state's most heralded programs.

"We were all excited," Bernabei said. "Obviously making the playoffs is huge, and then we got to play such a historic team. Mt. Carmel's made 29 consecutive playoff appearances so we were real excited to play them and have that historic game. If we're going to go out, we might as well lose to such a good team."

MT. CARMEL 21, BATAVIA 16

Mt. Carmel  7  0  0  14  –  21

Batavia  7  0  3  6  –  16

HOW THEY SCORED

First quarter

MC – Saffold 32 pass from Thompson (Mirabelli kick), 6:46

B – Niemiec 19 run (Morgano kick), 3:51

Third quarter

B – Morgano 25 field goal, 4:42

Fourth quarter

MC – Lewis 3 run (Mirabelli kick), 11:38

MC – Lewis 4 run (Mirabelli kick), 3:42

B – Coffey 3 pass from Niemiec (conversion failed), 1:12

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Mt. Carmel: Lewis 21-92, Ries 16-76, Thompson 10-29, Saffold 4-17. Totals: 51-214. Batavia: Niemiec 9-55, Garrett 13-41. Totals: 22-96

PASSING – Mt. Carmel: Thompson 6-11-0-74, Ries 0-1-0-0. Totals: 6-12-0-74. Batavia: Niemiec 10-22-0-90, Acosta 5-8-0-50. Totals: 15-30-0-140.

RECEIVING – Mt. Carmel: Wirtel 2-15, Saffold 3-52, Stasaitis 1-7. Totals: 6-74. Batavia: Coffey 7-77, Garrett 1-4, Stuttle 2-26, Piron 1-7, Frazier 2-7, Fitch 1-9, Crowder 1-9. Totals: 15-140.

TOTAL OFFENSE – Mt. Carmel 288, Batavia 236