The theme for the 2019 regular-season opener between Batavia and Williamsburg on Friday, August 30 was ‘History Repeats Itself.’
For those on the Batavia sideline, ‘history’ was more recent, referring to the last three meetings between the two squads. Batavia won each of those contests. On the other side of the field, ‘history’ stretched back further, marking Williamsburg’s 29-26 overall series lead in contests between the two teams entering last week’s showdown.
It took overtime, but the history will note that the Williamsburg Wildcats were the top dog in 2019.
Williamsburg rallied from a late 7-0 deficit to force overtime, then won the contest 14-13 thanks to a touchdown run by Loghan Kelley and a blocked extra point.
For a while, it appeared the game would head into overtime scoreless. Both teams had chances deep in opposing territory, and neither squad came away with any points.
Things changed late in the fourth quarter. Batavia’s Luke Scaggs scored on a seven-yard touchdown run, giving Batavia a 7-0 lead with 4:21 remaining.
The Wildcats needed a big play to answer, and they got it immediately. Teddy Conley returned the ensuing kickoff to the Batavia 12 yard-line, a return of 70 yards. That runback earned him praise from head coach Chad Ward.
“The first time, we thought we had a little seam there and we just kind of missed it,” Ward said. “We came back to it, and Braden Kelley got in front of him and banged two guys for 20 yards. Teddy’s a player, he likes making plays. It was definitely a big play in the game.”
On the other side of the field, Batavia head coach Scott Donaldson said that kickoff didn’t go as planned.
“That’s not where we wanted to kick it,” Donaldson said. “We practice kicking it somewhere else, it just came off his foot wrong. We kind of got out of position, and they got a good return on us. That hurt us.”
Williamsburg answered, with Loghan Kelley scoring on a five-yard touchdown run to tie the game at seven after Willow Kenneda’s extra point.
That left the Bulldogs 1:10 to answer, and they nearly gave the game away in regulation. After a solid pickup on first down, the Bulldogs threw three straight passes and collected just two yards. The fourth-down snap sailed over the head of the Batavia punter, and the Wildcats had the ball back at the Batavia 20.
The immediately fumbled it back to Batavia, who ended regulation with a pair of short runs.
In overtime, the Bulldogs wasted no time getting into the end zone. Scaggs scored on a 20-yard run on the first play, putting his team ahead 13-7. The Wildcats blocked the extra point.
Williamsburg moved 19 yards in two plays, with a one-yard touchdown run by Loghan Kelley finishing the drive. Batavia called timeout, but Kenneda booted the extra point through for the win.
The attempt at a freeze didn’t phase the Williamsburg kicker in the slightest, according to her coach.
“You’ve got guys that are hollering, and a couple kind of cool heads,” Ward said. “They’re all like, ‘Just make it, Willow, just make it.’ I’m like, ‘I’m not worried about her,’ and she’s like, ‘Guys, we’re just kicking a field goal.’ She’s just as cool as the other side of the pillow. We talked about holding our blocks and doing what we’re supposed to do. I knew she’d make it, she’s a really good kicker.”
She’s also one of several Williamsburg seniors, a senior class that entered 2019 winless against the Bulldogs.
“This senior class, they haven’t had a bunch of kids above them,” Ward said. “They were forced to play young. It helped, but they took it on the chin a lot. Our whole thing was just trying to turn around what people thought of us, not keep getting down on each other and closing up shop when stuff went bad. They played four quarters, and some, so…we’re proud. It would have been easy for them to close up shop when they went down 7-0, but they worked their butts off. They deserve it.”
Donaldson felt the Bulldogs had plenty of chances to win the contest, but they simply made one too many mistakes.
“That was a tough one,” Donaldson said. “It’s a rivalry game, anything can happen in a rivalry game. They played hard, we played hard. Both teams made mistakes, I think we just made one more.” We had a bad snap on that, but it happens.”
Scaggs led all runners with 23 carries for 155 yards and two touchdowns. He also hauled in three passes for 22 yards. Teammate Blake Casey collected 58 yards on 11 tries. Drew Mentzel completed five of eight passes for 51 yards.
Williamsburg’s Loghan Kelley led the Wildcats with 11 carries for 49 yards and two touchdowns. Jarrett Thatcher had nine rushing attempts for 48 yards, and Levi Kritzwiser added eight for 54 yards.
Batavia is back at the newly renovated Holman Stadium in week two, as the Bulldogs are slated to host Gamble Montessori on Friday, September 6 at 7 p.m. That game was originally a road contest for the Bulldogs, but it was scheduled to be played at the new Stargel Stadium. Construction on the stadium is not finished, thus the change in venue.
Williamsburg has an extra day of rest before the Wildcats take the field in week two. The team is slated to travel to St. Bernard on Saturday, September 7 at 6 p.m. That game will be played at Roger Bacon’s Bron Bacevich Stadium.