NEW LENOX – Batavia Coach Dennis Piron said there was no electric halftime speech or mountains of wisdom conveyed to his team at halftime of Saturday afternoon’s Class 7A second-round game against Lincoln-Way West.

And maybe that’s true.

But whatever message was conveyed to the Bulldogs certainly came through loud and clear, as Batavia made a furious second-half effort to escape with a 25-21 victory over Lincoln-Way West and advance to the quarterfinals.

Batavia (10-1) hosts Downers Grove North in next weekend’s quarterfinal round. Downers Grove North earned a 13-10 victory over Fenwick on a late field goal.

Lincoln-Way West closes out its season with a 7-4 record.

“I think we just woke up a little bit,” Pirón said of the halftime break. “We had a chance to score right before halftime, and even though we didn’t, it was like, ‘Let’s go!’ I thought, ‘Guys, we should probably have 21 points right now.’ … Let’s just execute and get it done.”

Batavia hadn’t done much of that in the first half as Lincoln-Way West flourished. The Bulldogs fumbled on their first possession, and the Warriors quickly went down the field scoring on a 44-yard touchdown pass from Chase Hetfleisch to Chase Markowitz.

Markowitz then thwarted a Batavia red zone drive with an interception, and although the Warriors didn’t trade that for any points, they added another touchdown pass from Hetfleisch to Markowitz from 11 yards out. A few minutes later, Hetfleisch would hit DeAndre Coates for a 10-yard score to put Lincoln-Way West up 21-0.

Batavia’s offense continued to falter and looked like it was going to be shut out in the first half when a drive was stopped at the Lincoln-Way West 24-yard line. But Batavia brought out a fake punt and it worked like a charm. Isaiah Brown threw the ball off center to Keegan Harp, and Harp went the distance for a 76-yard score to close the gap to 21-7.

Batavia then quickly forced a punt and loosened the reins on sophomore quarterback Michael Vander, who quickly completed a 56-yard pass to Brown and another 20-yard dart to Greyson Kelly inside the Lincoln-Way 5-yard line. West, but time expired. half before the Bulldogs could try to make another play.

That wasn’t a scoring drive, but it gave Batavia faith that it could move the ball.

After the break, that’s exactly what he did.

Vander executed a quick drive that ended in a 14-yard touchdown pass to Brown (eight catches, 179 yards). The extra point attempt was blocked, but Batavia was officially within striking distance trailing 21-13.

Batavia mounted another serious threat as the third quarter progressed, moving the ball deep into Lincoln-Way West territory. But with the ball resting at the 2-yard line on the final play of the quarter, Nathan Whitwell fumbled while searching for additional yards and it appeared to be a pivotal, game-changing moment.

But all the mistake seemed to accomplish was to further inflame Batavia. Lincoln-Way West didn’t do much with its next possession and kicked the ball back to Batavia, which went on a long, thorough drive that included two big connections between Vander and Brown before Batavia scored another score with 3:41 left. – Vander throws a 6-yard pass to Lucas Stevenson.

However, once again Batavia failed to convert and trailed 21-19.

The Bulldogs quickly forced a three-pointer and Vander, who almost inexplicably wasn’t promoted to the varsity game until Week 7, immediately went back to work.

He hit Brown for a 5-yard gain, and 15 more were added after a Lincoln-Way West penalty. Then, setting up at the Lincoln-Way West 48-yard line, Vander allowed Brett Berggren. He fell into the end zone for what turned out to be the decisive score.

“We were all hungry to get this win,” Vander said. “No one was down, no one was hanging their head, everyone encouraged each other, they were great teammates. And then we came here and left 25 unanswered.”

Lincoln-Way West still had a little more than two minutes to try to respond, but the offensive spigot that was wide open in the first half was off for most of the final two quarters. The Warriors threw four incomplete passes and Whitwell, who started slowly but finished with 98 rushing yards, secured a first down for the Bulldogs and allowed them to claim the surprising victory.

The loss was extremely difficult for Lincoln-Way West to take.

“This is a second-round football match that could easily have been a semi-final match or a final. Two of the best teams in Class 7A. I truly believe that and I know Batavia knows that,” Lincoln-Way West coach Luke Lokanc said. “I wish these guys could have played one more game together next week, but we had a semi-final or final type game in the second round.”