Bulldogs Hold on in the Rain, Douse Scouts' Playoff Hopes

Until Saturday, Batavia's football team was averaging 45.7 points per game and defeated teams by an average of more than 37 points for the past nine games.

The rain and Lake Forest put an end to that, as the Bulldogs needed a defensive stop late in the game to defeat the Scouts 19-14 at Batavia.

The 11-1 Bulldogs advance to the state semifinal against top-seeded Rockford Boylan. The Scouts finish the season with a 9-3 overall record.

The Scouts led 7-6 after the first quarter. Andrew Nelson intercepted a Micah Coffey pass and ran it back 90 yards to go ahead 7-0. Batavia came back with a 55-yard pass from Coffey to Jordan Zwart, and Anthony Scaccia took it in from 11 yards out.

Scaccia finished the day with 131 yards on 31 carries — far less than his 8.1 yards-per-carry average this season. But his second touchdown of the game — a 14-yard pass from Coffey — put Batavia back on top, 12-7 at halftime.

The Bulldogs went ahead 19-7 in the third quarter, when then Coffey connected with Rourke Mullins on a 54-yard pass play, and Batavia appeared to have the game in control going into the fourth period.

But the Bulldogs tried a fake punt, which failed at the 5-minute mark, and the Scouts got right back in the game with a series of plays capped by a 1-yard Trent Williams touchdown, cutting the lead to 19-14 with 3:52 left.

Lake Forest had a chance to win late in the game. The Scouts defense, which has been excellent all year, held Batavia to a three-and-out, but on the next series, Batavia's defense returned the favor, forcing the Scouts to punt with a little more than two minutes left.

Scaccia's first down run iced the game and ended Lake Forest's playoff hopes. 

Batavia will face Rockford Boylan Catholic next week in the Class 6A state seminal game. 

Read More

• Chicago Tribune: 6A playoffs | Batavia's defense comes through against Lake Forest

• Kane County Chronicle: Batavia football tops Lake Forest, on to 6A state semis