Chicago-Area High School Football News and Scores | Season Pass

Things went wrong in a hurry for Larkin in its 48-0 loss to Batavia Friday night.

The Royals received the opening kickoff, but were unable to move the ball and were forced to punt. Only the snap from center rolled to punter Clayton Stilin and the Bulldogs blocked the punt, recovering at the Larkin 22.

It took the 15th-ranked Bulldogs six plays to score and the route was on.

“We took care of business tonight,” Batavia coach Dennis Piron said. “We didn’t mess around (and) scored points quickly.”

In fact,the Bulldogs (6-0, 3-0 in the Upstate Eight River) scored touchdowns on their first five possessions and took a 35-0 lead to halftime. Piron was able to rest his starters on offense the second half.

“We played great defense, like we should have,” Piron said. “We were able to play our backups the second half and I was just very pleased with the approach of our entire team.”
Quarterback Micah Coffey did play long enough to complete 6 of 8 passes for 111 yards and a 36-yard touchdown to Zach Strittmatter while tailback Anthony Scaccia carried eight times for 65 yards and scored on a 5-yard run.

Larkin (2-4, 1-3) played without quarterback Kemmerin Blalark and running back Damion Clemons. Both were out with injuries. Coach Mike Scianna simplified the offense, trying to bust running back Mo Jackson through the Batavia defense.

“When you have five guys hitting one guy it’s pretty hard,” Scianna said. “They (the Bulldogs) loaded up the box. If you can get a couple yards with four to five guys on your back, it’s pretty good I think.”

Jackson finished with just 39 yards rushing and that included a 24-yard run.
“We did what we could,” Scianna said. “We got seven new kids in there tonight and, hopefully, we took a step forward as a unit.”

The victory officially qualified the Bulldogs for the playoffs.