Nathan Whitwell’s 4 TD night leads Batavia to big 35-13 victory over Wheaton Warrenville South

BATAVIA – It had been a tough couple of weeks for Batavia running back Nathan Whitwell.

After rushing for more than 100 yards in each of the first five weeks, the senior back had been stopped plenty short of the century mark in Weeks 6 and 7, managing only a combined 88 yards over the two-week span.

[ Photos: Batavia vs. Wheaton Warrenville South ]

Against Wheaton Warrenville South on Oct. 18, Whitwell got the legs churning again.

Whitwell put up 174 rushing yards on 27 attempts and scored four touchdowns to help the Bulldogs to a 35-13 victory over the Tigers.

“That was a great feeling to get back into it and just start rushing the ball again like earlier in the season,” Whitwell said. “It was a great feeling just being able to see some open grass.”

The win moved Batavia to 7-1 on the season and 5-1 in the DuKane Conference. A win this week and a loss by Geneva would give the Bulldogs a share of the conference championship, which would be their fifth in six seasons.

Whitwell’s four touchdowns, which came from 20, 2, 1 and 3 yards out, gave him 21 touchdowns on the season, which is the third most rushing touchdowns in a season under head coach Dennis Piron. Whitwell trails only Anthony Scaccia (28 in 2013) and his brother Ryan Whitwell (22 in 2022).

“When we have to get it done, we’re going to have to count on him,” Piron said. “He’s just a super special football player and our guys up front did a nice job giving him space.”

Wide receiver Isaiah Brown had the other score on the night for the Bulldogs, catching a 14-yard TD pass from Bodi Anderson with 1:26 remaining in the first half. Brown almost had a second touchdown in the third quarter on a 66-yard reception but was ruled out at the 1-yard line before Whitwell punched in the score. Brown finished with four catches for 96 yards. Anderson had 132 passing yards.

“(Brown) made some big plays for us out there,” Piron said. “Guys are coming on right when they need to. And I think Bodi’s coming around nicely as well. We had a couple plays we maybe should have hit early, but for the most part, he played a fine game.”

Both of Wheaton Warrenville South’s scores came through the air. Quarterback Luca Carbonaro found Luke Beres for a 64-yard score midway through the second quarter. Carbonaro connected with Northern Illinois commit Amari Williams for a 38-yard touchdown on their first drive in the third quarter. Carbonaro finished the game completing 14-of-30 passes for 226 yards. The Tigers’ running game was held to only five yards.

“We talked about having a small margin of error and needing to execute in our pass game, especially early on and we just didn’t,” Wheaton Warrenville South coach Sean Norris said. “We missed some things and didn’t execute. And those are things that you have to do, especially when you play good football teams like Batavia.”

The loss moves the Tigers to 4-4 on the season and almost into a must-win situation for Week 9 if they want to make it into the playoffs. Norris said his team needs to get back to what it has been effective at to put itself in a position to succeed and play another week.

“Our kids fought all the way to the end,” Norris said. “Our playoffs start this week. We just have to win (this) week.”