FRIDAY NIGHT REWIND: Barbs vow to fight hard to improve

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BATAVIA – Marty Sanders was on the sideline watching the action closely.

The first-year DeKalb football coach is invested in the present but had an eye on the future Friday night as he watched the sophomore team (5-3) drop a spirited contest, 19-15, to Batavia.

The Barbs’ varsity lost 40-6 and has scored the fewest points (78) of any team in the Western Sun Conference. The Barbs have scored only 40 points in six WSC games. Sanders will have to figure out a way to make the success at the lower levels translate to varsity.

“We are going to go away, clinic, get some kids in the weight room and get better,” Sanders said. “We are going to fight real hard to get to a point where we can compete day in and day out. I really believe we aren’t that far away.

“The bottom line is our kids have to continue to believe.”

Untouchable: It was a running backs’ dream come true. The DeKalb defensive line couldn’t get penetration. The Batavia offensive was at the Barbs’ second level in a split second. The result was a recipe for disaster. Batavia needed only four plays for a 19-6 lead, which usurped any momentum DeKalb had established with a game-opening scoring drive.

“Regardless of the opponent or how big the game is,” Batavia coach Mike Gaspari said, “it’s really the kids up front that determine the game.”

Player of the week: On a 40-yard reception kept the game-opening scoring drive alive on third down and nine. wide receiver Javon Scruggs showed the speed and hands that made him a standout as a sophomore last season. His development in the offseason will be a key to the Barbs’ season next year.