Batavia’s running game, defense set pace for dominant 41-0 victory over Wheaton North

WHEATON – When Batavia and Wheaton North face off under the lights, fans usually can expect a close contest. Heading into the Sept. 27 game, five of the previous matchups had been decided by fewer than 10 points.

Friday night was an exception.

A combination of a lethal rushing offense that went for 259 yards and an iron-clad defense set the tone early and helped Batavia to a 41-0 victory over Wheaton North.

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The win was the Bulldogs’ first shutout since the opening round of last season’s Class 7A playoffs, when the Bulldogs posted a 46-0 victory over Brother Rice.

Batavia limited Wheaton North to only 31 yards of total offense in Friday night’s game, including minus 5 yards on the ground.

Bulldogs head coach Dennis Piron said most of the success comes from planning by defensive coordinator Matt Holm, who has a lot more time to be a football coach after retiring from teaching last year.

“It’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened since Mike Gaspari was an offensive coordinator all day when he retired,” Piron said. “The kids are in tune with them. They’re all on the same page and when they get flying around, it’s just a beautiful thing.”

Leading the charge on the front line was defensive lineman Xavier Blanquel, who finished the game with 1.5 sacks and multiple pressures and tackles for loss.

“We were just playing hard every single play and just hustling,” Blanquel said. “That’s a big thing on our team. No matter who has the ball, our whole team is going to be there.”

On offense, Batavia (5-0, 3-0 DuKane Conference) again was led by Nathan Whitwell, who finished with 120 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns. Whitwell has gone over 100 yards rushing and has multiple touchdowns in all five games this season.

Unlike the first four games, the rushing game relied on more than just Whitwell. Greyson Kelly finished with 12 carries for 86 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Brett Berggren, who was used in jet sweeps, got four rushes for 41 yards and a touchdown.

“Getting Berg involved in the run game was pretty devastating, especially with him getting like 10 yards a carry,” Piron said. “We got Greyson Kelly going a little bit. Our fullbacks were doing a nice job. It was just a lot of good things tonight.”

Berggren found himself on the receiving end of a touchdown early in the game. The junior took his lone catch from quarterback Bodi Anderson for 35 yards for a score.

“I just feel like my coaches really believed in me this week,” Berggren said. “They gave me the opportunity to succeed. But also my O-line was just amazing this week and Bodi just did his thing.”

Anderson finished 8-of-15 passing for 88 yards and two touchdowns, the other coming on a 3-yard pass to Isaiah Brown.

For Wheaton North (3-2, 1-2), coach Joe Wardynski knows that after a lopsided loss his players have no choice but to bounce back, especially with a rivalry game this week against Wheaton Warrenville South.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a game be that one-sided,” Wardynski said. “We knew we had to have a really good game to stay with them, but things just snowballed for us. But it’s going to test the kids to bounce back (this) week, especially since they’re playing their crosstown rivals.”