The Batavia High Blue Devils varsity football team opened the Section V Class B playoffs tonight with a dominating 35-0 victory over the visiting Newark/Marion Reds at Van Detta Stadium.

The second-seeded Blue Devils will host No. 3 Wayne at 7 p.m. next Friday in the semifinals.

Batavia scored on all but two of its possessions.

QB Jesse Reinhart was 8-12 passing for 152 yards and two TDs. He was intercepted once. He also gained 32 yards on the ground on four carries.  

Cam McClinic gained 94 yards rushing on three carries and scored twice. Aidan Anderson rushed 11 times for 71 yards and scored a TD.

Cole Grazioplene scored once on five receptions for 76 yards.  Jagger Owens caught a 40-yard TD pass.

On defense, Kaden Marucci had nine tackles.

Also on Friday:

Alexander 45, Geneseo 0. The Trojans gained more than 300 yards on the ground. Braydon Woods gained 128 yards on 17 carries.  Nick Kramer gained 91 yards on ten carries.

Le Roy 7, Attica 3. Brock Flint rushed for 38 yards on 14 carries. John Penepento, four runs for 21 yards and a TD.  He was also 2-7 passing for 34 yards. Jack Tonzi had 13 tackles and Tyler Strollo, nine.

Pembroke 34, Sodus 0. In eight-man football, Tyson Totten gained 136 yards on 19 carries and scored three touchdowns. Caleb Felski, seven carries, 100 yards and a TD. Cayden Pfalzer, 3-3 passing for 56 yards and a TD.  On defense, Pete Farrington had six tackls.

Photos by Jim Burns

The Batavia Blue Devils varsity football team played the Buffalo Burgard Bulldogs at Van Detta Stadium Friday night in an exhibition game after Geneva was forced to forfeit. 

Batavia led from their opening drive and with a two-point conversion were on top 8 to 0. The Bulldogs scored next but did not convert, 8-6.

Batavia scored on their next few possessions, even with turning the ball over a few times but quickly getting it back and led 20-6. The Bulldogs reeled in the Blue Devils and were within one position of tying the game at the half with the score of 20-12. 

The second half was riddled with more turnovers by both teams. Burgard pulled to within two points of Batavia six minutes into the second half (20-18) as the game’s momentum seemed to shift in favor of Buffalo. Batavia scored on their next possessions and started to walk away with the game from there. 

The rest of the cold evening Batavia was in complete control scoring on more than half of their possessions. The final score was Batavia 42, Burgard 24. 

Terez Smith carried the ball 25 times for 305 yards and five touchdowns. Jesse Reinhart was 5-13 passing for 87 yards and a TD. Alex Hale had two catches for 42 yards and a TD.

On defense, Kaden Marucci had 11 tackles, an interception, a fumble recovery, and a pass tip. Austyn Fernandez, four tackles. Tyler Budzinack and Reinhart each had an interception.

Senior guard Zach Gilebarto and senior forward/center Stone Siverling combined for 41 points tonight to lead Batavia High to a 56-38 victory over visiting NE Douglas in the opening round of the Section V Class B1 boys’ basketball tournament.

The victory moves the top-seeded Blue Devils, now 13-0, into the semifinals against No. 4 Palmyra-Macedon, a 53-44 winner over No. 5 Hornell. That game will be played at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Batavia.

Both teams struggled to find the range in the opening half as Batavia led 10-6 after the first quarter and 22-12 at intermission – the Blue Devils’ last three points coming on a long three-point shot by Gilebarto with 6/10ths of a second on the clock.

Batavia outscored NE Douglas 15-11 in the third quarter as Gilebarto hit two more three-pointers to go up 37-23. The Blue Devils stretched their lead in the final stanza as Gilebarto scored nine of his 21 points, including his fifth three-pointer.

Siverling was a factor in each quarter, scoring six, four, four and six en route to his 20 points.

Trynzeir Parker led NE Douglas, 4-7, with 14 points.

The other Class B1 semifinal on Wednesday will pit No. 2 Wayne, also 13-0, against No. 3 Livonia at Wayne Central.

The Batavia High School Blue Devils went into the playoffs as the favorite for the first game, but the season ended with a one-sided victory that had the Blue Devils fighting from behind from five minutes into the game. 

Batavia lost the coin toss, but the underdog Palmyra-Macedon Red Riders elected to kick. This was the start of their control of the game.

Batavia received the ball and was done with a three and out to punt. The Red Riders then took the ball and did almost nothing and then were forced to punt.

Unfortunately Batavia committed a personal foul on the punt and created a first down for the Red Riders. This early foul by Batavia changed the course of the game. Given a second chance, the Red Riders were able to drive the field and eventually score leading 7 to nothing a few minutes into first quarter.

The Blue Devils eventually fought back and answered with a TD of their own. This was quickly followed by another TD form the Red Riders that left Batavia chasing them the rest of the game. At the half, Batavia trailed by 7 with the Red Devils at 14. 

In the second half, the Blue Devils looked like they were going to change the course of the game with sporadic breakout plays, but they were never quite able to connect the dots and catch up to the Red Riders.  

As the fourth quarter started Batavia needed to score on two possessions to capture the lead. Even trailing most of the game, Batavia’s determination and spirit made the prospect of a come-from-behind victory seem very possible.

Unfortunately with a late fourth quarter interception Batavia sealed their fate and the Red Riders went home with an upset victory.

Final score: Blue Devils 15, Red Riders 32.

Congratulations Batavia High School Blue Devils on yet another winning season! 

The Muckdogs will play against Auburn on Saturday night; game time is 7:05.

The Blue Devils shut out Geneva June 1, winning 9-0 in the Class B1 title game. It was their first sectional title since 1998.

Everyone is encouraged to come out and show their support of the BHS varsity baseball team in recognition of their victory.

The high school team's boosters will also be raising money for the 2020 baseball season by having a 50/50 and other raffles, selling Batavia Blue Devil apparel, and conducting a tennis ball toss into the ball field after the game.

In a record-breaking season the Batavia Blue Devils will continue in the battle for a state championship after their win Saturday over Cheektowaga 28 to 56.

Hours before the game I asked someone from the coaching staff how the Blue Devils did preparing this week. He said he has never seen them so ready. He was right, they were ready. Apparently the Blue Devils are peaking at the right time.  

The offense was about as one-dimensional as it could get in tonight's game, it was all Ray Leach. Leach, tonight’s MVP, rushed for a NYS record setting 427 yards and eight touchdowns on 29 attempts. Don’t think he was all the Batavia offense had to offer, but he was more than they needed to defeat Cheektowaga. 

Leach did not do it all on his own, the front line opened up more than a few holes Leach could have walked through at his leisure and the other key offensive players made selfless blocks and served to distract Cheektowaga’s defense.

Like all true companionship contending teams, the Blue Devils defense was up to the task this evening. They made huge stops in the first half that kept Cheektowaga out of the game. Without stellar defensive plays it may have only been a seven-point game at the half instead of 8 to 36 Batavia. In the third quarter the defense put up a few points of their own with a safety. 

Coach Brennan Briggs congratulated the team after their victory and said “There are only four teams left in the state, why not us? Let's take it to the dome.” 

The Batavia Blue Devils will now face Skaneateles in Binghamton at 3 p.m. next Saturday, Nov. 17^th.

For more photos of the game click HERE.

This Friday, Sept. 14th, the Batavia Blue Devils Football Team and its supporters would like to recognize all those who have worn or currently wear a military or first responder uniform by inviting them to come to the home game.

Any military personnel, police officer, firefighter or first responder will get free admission (with proof of ID) as well as a complementary hot dog and drink. They will also be seated in the end zone; and to thank them for their service, they will be honored at approximately 7:15 p.m. prior to the start of the game.

Vandetta Stadium is located at 120 Richmond Avenue in the City of Batavia.

Batavia Blue Devils boys varsity basketball had a home game against the Greece Odyssey Leopards tonight. What started as a blow out and continued that way into the fourth quarter was almost an upset loss. 

In the first quarter Batavia did about anything they wanted at either end of the court, easily leading by 13 to 5. After the nice easy warm up of the first quarter, Batavia cruised through the second and led 35 to 17 at the half. 

Once play started in the third,Greece’s’ John Mathis III came out scoring with 14 points, outscoring Batavia by himself. Batavia still led by 47 to 36 at the end of three quarters.

The fourth started slow for Batavia. With about four minutes remaining in the fourth, Greece had caught up to Batavia and tied the game. A few seconds later Greece was in the lead.And Batavia called a time-out. Turnovers and missed shots were causing a lot of damage to Batavia at this point in time. Greece was out rebounding them and clearly in control.

The final minute of play began with the scored tied at 53-53. Antwon Odem (16 points on the night) stepped up and drove hard into the paint with the go ahead two-pointer with 20 seconds left. After that Greece was not able to rally again. Final score: Batavia 57, Greece Odyssey 55. Other standout Batavia team members were Tee Saun Ayala with 15 and Jonathan Liciaga with 12. 

Wednesday night the Batavia Blue Devils Boys Varsity Basketball (7-3) played a home game against the Canandaigua Braves (8-6). There was a lot of hustle from both teams early on in the game.

Canandaigua did a good job of moving the ball around on offense to create shooting opportunities by getting a man wide open for a two- or three-point jumper. Canandaigua led most of the first because of this ball movement on their offense. The game was tied at 10-10 at the end of one.

Going into the second quarter, Batavia’s defense started to figure out Canandaigua offense and made the time of possession a little more even, causing some turnovers on defense. At the half Batavia led 22-20.

The third quarter looked like a different game. Batavia’s defense continued to stop Canandaigua and their offense turned red hot. Half way through the third Batavia led by 10. At the end of three Batavia led 47 to 30. Batavia’s Naz Pratt #2, put the exclamation point on the quarter by hitting a nothing but net, at the buzzer, three-pointer from the other side of the court, he was almost in another ZIP code. It was a spectacular shot.

Batavia never lost control of the game in the fourth, but Canandaigua rallied a bit and put the pressure on slowly climbing out of their 17-point deficit to come within three points. Both teams increased their intensity for a hard played last few minutes with Batavia triumphing. Final score, Batavia 55 Canandaigua 49. Batavia’s double-digit scorers were Tee Sean Ayala with 20 and Antwon Odom with 12.

The Batavia boys varsity Blue Devils defeated Honeoye Falls-Lima in a very hard fought, double overtime, 61 to 59 victory. 

Batavia started off with an early lead that diminished quickly and had them behind at the half. HF-L's lead at the half was due to a tremendous defensive effort by forcing turnovers. On many of the turnovers HF-L was able to convert, a few times with three-pointers.

In the second half, Batavia battled back from a deficit to be back in contention for the lead by the start of the fourth quarter. Both teams look tired at the start of the fourth. Batavia took it to HF-L in the paint by playing physical and getting offensive rebounds. The Batavia defense did a good job keeping HF-L away from the basket, often making HF-L take forced shots as the shot clock ran out.

Batavia trailed most of the fourth quarter as the teams traded baskets. Hogan scored a three-pointer with 30 seconds left in the fourth that tied the game. Regulation ended in a 43-43 tie.

Malachi Chenault finished the night with a double double, 15 points 10 rebounds. Hogan had a big 18 points with some great clutch plays and Trevor Sherwood had 13 points on the long night.  

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