By Chris Chaney
Sun staff
The only consistent theme over the first half of the 2014 season for the Batavia football team was inconsistency. Even still, the Bulldogs banded together, won their last five games of the season and claimed their second Southern Buckeye Conference National Division title in three years.
A sterling 7-3 final record and 4-0 mark in the SBC does not tell the entire story, however. The means to the end were much more complicated.
Coming into the season with a young, energetic first-year head coach in Caleb Corrill and a team that returned key pieces from Batavia’s 2012 playoff roster, the Bulldogs were looking to prove doubters wrong and return to the postseason.
“I hear the whispers out there,” Corrill said before the season. “I like to see what we can do when the pressure’s on and it gives us a boost; we’ve been trying to use that with the players. We know that we have to earn that respect, but there’s definitely a little chip (on our shoulder).”
Unfortunately for Corrill, health problems forced him to miss time with the team and eventually resign from his post to make his health a top priority, according to Batavia High School athletic director Ben Stewart.
As the coaching reigns were passed to interim head coach Matt Lester, some integral players missed time. The Bulldogs dropped two of three games to fall to 2-3 at the halfway point.
“The transition process took a couple games and our record showed that,” Lester said. “It was odd because we all were extremely aware of the circumstances and we were unsure of what was going to happen.
“During the Norwood game, some things happened to solidify us as a team for the rest of the year and solidified me as the coach. After Norwood, we went on to win five straight and the league. The kids responded really well and I think they responded better than anyone in the entire circumstance.”
Lester expressed that he inherited a solid team from Corrill and the best way he felt to handle the change in leadership was to keep things simple with the players.
“We put a big emphasis on fundamentals,” he explained. “My philosophy as a coach is that the team that blocks the best, tackles the best, secures the football and plays great defense is going to win the game. We condensed what we were doing on offense and put more emphasis on defense.”
The Bulldogs’ renewed commitment to defense showed in the second half of the season, giving up 11.8 points per game whereas Batavia was giving up 29.6 points per game over the first five weeks of the season.
The simplified offense allowed perennial First Team All-SBC selection KeShawn Foley to shine, scoring 12 touchdowns in the last five weeks. Weapons Dylan Wagner, Conn Gerrard, Darnay Foley, Shawn Adams, Zach Mays, Kobe Stepp and Tony Gatto also got in on the action, while a stout defense made it hard on opposing offenses to keep up.
A focus that Lester said was hard to maintain in early-season games in which Batavia held second-half leads, yet still lost returned during the SBC docket and manifested itself in tight wins over Williamsburg (8-6), Bethel-Tate (28-14) and Blanchester (21-20).
“It was definitely tumultuous the first five games and we lost focus in some games — specifically Mariemont and Norwood where were up late, but ended up losing by more than one touchdown,” Lester said. “Against CNE we executed well and took out some frustration from the first few games of the year. Williamsburg, I thought we controlled the game very well and the kids were up for a big game and that propelled us the rest of the way.”
With the SBC title wrapped up after the win over Blan, the season finale against Amelia proved to be a microcosm of the Bulldogs’ season. A slow start in wet and cold conditions saw Batavia make some mistakes with ball security, but mental toughness and perseverance led to a fourth-quarter comeback.
“We battled through the conditions and a solid opponent,” Lester said. “We were used to the battles — we had a two-point game, a one-point game — so going into the last drive tied 13-13, we were ready to answer the call.
“Zach Mays came up with a huge play to win the football game and finish up 7-3.”
Going forward, the Bulldogs will have a few more hurdles to jump over. First, the program loses a senior class of more than 10 who have been through the ringer in green and white. Secondly, the instability at the head coaching position over the past 12 months is something that AD Stewart said they will reevaluate going forward and make a decision “much sooner than it was last year.” He did add that the school was very happy with the way the season ended under Coach Lester.
While the administration irons out the wrinkles in the program, the players, coaches, parents and fans can hang their hat on the fact that a ‘2014’ will soon be added to the school’s SBC Championship banner.