QB Greg Mruczek celebrated Batavia's first home sectional game in 18 years by tossing five touchdown passes, helping the Blue Devils crush Palmyra-Macedon 47-14.
It was pretty much a flawless performance for the junior who hit 13 receivers in 16 attempts for 227 yards without a reception.
Head Coach Brennan Briggs attributes Mruczek's success to hard work.
"He competes every single snap," Briggs said. "He wants to get better. It's not about any of the coaches or anything like that. It's about Greg wanting the ball in his hands and putting in that time and putting in that effort, asking to watch extra film, asking about the defensive coverages."
It helps that he's got some weapons on the wings and in the backfield.
Offensively, the Blue Devils feature three wideouts each with more than six feet in height -- Ryan Hogan, Malachi Chenault and James Cryer -- and speed with Dominick Mogavero, Jarrett Lasket and Anthony Gallo.
Mruczek said the height and athleticism of his receivers makes his job easier.
"I can throw with a lot of confidence with those guys," Mruczek said. "There's a lot of height. I can throw up the ball and they're great athletes. I've got a lot of confidence they're going to make plays."
Cryer led the receiving corps with four caches for 77 yards and three touchdowns.
Mogavero anchored the running game Friday night. He rushed for 124 yards on 24 carries.
"He's the back who has to get some tough yards, but he's also deceiving with the vision that he has," Briggs said. "He finds some holes and gets some big, hard yards for us. Defensively, his nose is always in there. He's a tough kid, a hard-nosed kid. That's how wrestlers are. He's a wrestler and that's how wrestlers are built. Not a big kid, but we have a lot of kids who aren't big or many not have a ton of mass to them, but their hearts are pretty strong."
The Blue Devils will need to call on those big hearts, hard work and focus as they take a big step in the recent history of Batavia's football program -- a second-round playoff game, something that hasn't happened in about 20 years.
Next Saturday they'll face #3 ranked Penn Yan (6-2), coming off a 24-0 victory over Waterloo.
Even with a record of 7-1, Briggs said the Blue Devils have yet to put together a complete, well-balanced game, but they're getting closer.
That is what it will take to advance.
"We need to tighten up the defense," Briggs said. "We need to be able to run the ball and throw the ball on a given night. We can't just rely on just the passing game or just the running game. We still have to put that all together for us to take that next step."
Top Photo: Cryer with a TD reception.
Trevor Sherwood, another of Batavia's tall receivers, uses his height for a reception in the third quarter.
Malachi Chenault goes up for the ball to haul in a TD reception in the first quarter.
Cryer with a long run after a reception for a touchdown in the third quarter.
Danny Williams scores on a running play.
The Batavia Cheerleaders introduced a new routine at halftime.
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