October 25, 2001 11:33 PM
Batavia (5-4) at Rock Island (9-0)
Time & place: 7 tonight at Almquist Field in a Class 6A playoff opener. Coverage: Marc
Nesseler. Radio: WKBF-AM 1270.
St. Viator revisited: The Rocks are relishing having faced the passing fancy of St.
Viator last week. ``The quarterbacks are very similar,'' said RI coach Vic Boblett.
``However, Batavia's (Aaron Scholl) is taller, bigger, faster and has a stronge arm. And
he's being recruited at a higher level, by Big Ten and all MAC teams.''
Weather factor: The heavy winds of the past week could affect Batavia's passing, but
Boblett said a more beneficial impact. ``We need it to dry out the field,'' he said.
``There was standing water'' on Almquist Field on Wednesday. A dry track would help the
Rocks, with their speedy backfield.
Notable: A most notable Batavia alum is former Augustana and Cincinnati Bengal QB great
Kenny Anderson. ... The Rocks completed their third 9-0 season in their last 5 years ...
Batavia was 1-4 before winning 4 of their last 5. The Bulldogs finished fourth in the
Suburban Prairie (Red) Conference.
Players to watch
Rocks: RB Maurice Jones is closing in on 2,000 yards, but needs to get well into the
playoffs to get there. He's 479 yards away. ... Jones has 57 percent of the Rocks' ground
yardage in just 32 percent of the team's carries. ... Jones and WR Brandin Smith account
for 81 percent of RI's receiving yardage. Tom DeBroeck started at QB in last week's 55-20
win over St. Viator, but attempted only one pass. The Rocks gained 515 yards on the
ground. RB Dillon Smith is coming off his second 100-plus ground game of the season. ...
LB Jason Amble is tops in INTs with 4. DE Chris Tuttle has a whopping 11.5 sacks. He and
Drew DeVore have five tackles for losses, with sacks not included.
Bulldogs: QB Aaron Scholl, a 6-2 senior, has thrown for 1,370 yards on 126-of-221
passing with 11 TDs and 5 INTs. He also has the No. 2 rusher with 554 yards on 101
carries. Top rusher is Dave Nagel, with 807 yards on 139 carries. Scholl (7) and Nagel (9)
have 16 of the team's 17 rushing TDs. Top receivers are Dom Gibson (6-foot-3), 61 catches,
721 yards, 7 TDs; Brandon Kochan (22-219, 2 TDs; and Travis Meeks (6-7) 21-215, 0 TDs.
Biggest linemen are Matt Gabrielson (6-4, 240) G/T; James Ryan (6-5, 290 T) and Tom
Hoffmann (6-7, 211 TE/E).
Coach's take
``This is not your typical No. 30 seed vs. No. 3 seed. When we saw then play Boylan in
the playoffs last year as all juniors, we thought they should have a good shot at a
championship in 2001. They lost some kids early, maybe to injury or discipline, lost 3 of
4 and then got them back and have played really well. Their only other loss was to a 9-0
Morris team. They're playing like we thought they would.''
-- RI coach Vic Boblett
Copyright 2001, Moline Dispatch
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