There was nothing subtle about Tom Stuttle and the way he led Batavia to a 20-10 win in a Class 7A quarterfinal Saturday at Lincoln-Way West.
If he wasn’t making a well-timed acrobatic leap to tip away a pass from a receiver, the 5-foot-11, 165-pound senior defensive back/wide receiver was grabbing one of his three interceptions in the fourth quarter or one of his three pass receptions from Riley Cooper.
John Golden, Batavia’s other cornerback, also had three interceptions to help give the Bulldogs an 8-1 turnover advantage. Stuttle’s three catches accounted for 86 yards and included a 32-yard touchdown that gave Batavia (11-1) the lead in a come-from-behind win.
“Tom Stuttle, what a football player,” Batavia coach Dennis Piron said. “Defensive back, receiver, he’s the best player on the field everywhere you play. He’s a baller. Really, really happy for him.”
The win sends the Bulldogs to a semifinal game next week at Benet, which edged Lincoln-Way Central 14-10 in another Saturday quarterfinal.
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The Warriors (9-3) jumped out early on the Bulldogs, taking a 10-0 lead in the first quarter on a 76-yard TD run by sophomore Caleb Marconi on the second play of the game and a 32-yard field goal by Brock Krohe.
Batavia struggled to get its offense going until the final minute of the first half when Cooper scrambled to keep a play alive and found wide receiver Eric Peterson for a 60-yard TD.
“That was a broken play,” Peterson said. “I made a couple moves, Riley found me and led me perfect over the middle and I got a great block by Collin Richter.”
Max McFadden’s fumble recovery early in the third quarter set up Stuttle’s go-ahead TD reception. Quinn Urwiler’s recovery set up a second TD pass to Peterson, this time from 7 yards, for some insurance.
Stuttle and Golden did the rest, frustrating quarterback Anthony Senerchia in the fourth quarter as he tried to drive his team into the wind.
“We stopped ourselves,” Senerchia said. “I can’t do that. I put that on myself.”
Stuttle said the Bulldogs didn’t get down despite the slow start.
“We were just sticking with it,” he said. “Our coaches kept us confident and we came out and played a little bit harder and better in the second half.
“I had two interceptions (in a game) a couple times this year, but three is just awesome. I just wanted John Golden to get another one so he could have three, too.”
Lincoln-Way West coach Dave Ernst credited the Bulldogs with making an adjustment with their safeties to help stop his team’s running game after the early success.
Defensive back Matt Murphy countered with three sacks of Cooper, but Lincoln-Way West was hurt by the loss of defensive back Anthony Lullo to an apparent leg injury early in the game.
“I thought Matt (Murphy) had a great game,” Ernst said. “If he’s not all-state, they shouldn’t have a team. We couldn’t get any pressure on them from our front seven, though.”
The Warriors did hold Batavia to 87 yards rushing.
“We’ve got to figure that out,” Piron said.
Twitter @RickArmstrong28