Batavia's star quarterback too much for Hononegah in Class 7A playoff quarterfinals
Joe Melcher had a career day, but almost everything else was a disaster for Hononegah in Saturday’s 55-14 Class 7A quarterfinal loss to Batavia.
Hononegah (11-1) had allowed only 103 points in its first 11 games, but Batavia (11-1) scored four times on its first 11 plays from scrimmage to zoom out to a 28-0 lead.
Hononegah started to mount a comeback, climbing to within 28-14, but Batavia then scored twice more to re-open a four-score lead at halftime, 42-14.
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Melcher caught eight passes for a career-high 146 yards, but Hononegah ran for only 23 yards on 13 carries.
Quarterback Cole Warren completed 22 of 42 passes for 260 yards and a 5-yard TD to Cole Schmall for Hononegah’s first score. Luke Poppe scored on a 4-yard run to make it 28-14 four minutes later.
Warren’s pass to Schmall gave him a share of the NIC-10 record for TD passes in a season with 28.
North Dakota State recruit Ryan Boe posed a big problem for Hononegah’s defense. The strong-armed Boe averaged more than 20 yards per completion, connecting on 15 of 24 throws for 310 yards and five touchdowns.
“He certainly had a big day,” Hononegah coach Brian Zimmerman said. “He threw the ball really well. We had some miscues in the secondary, unfortunately. It was primarily the long pass that got us today. He put it in some good places and their receivers did a great job of catching it as well.”
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Charlie Whelpley led Batavia’s ground game with 104 yards and two TDs on 17 carries. Isaiah Brown, a transfer from Yorkville, caught five passes for 157 yards and two TDs. Bret Berggren also had a big receiving day for Batavia, catching two passes, both for TDs, for 96 yards.
Batavia’s only loss this year is by one point to Frankfort Lincoln-Way East, which was playing Saturday night in the Class 8A quarterfinals.
The loss ended a special season for Hononegah, which became only the sixth team in NIC-10 history to score 500 points, finishing with a school-record 507.
“We were expecting to have a good year with as many guys as we had returning,” Zimmerman said. “We knew we were athletic and had some size. This senior group was a great group to be around and work with. It’s not too often you get a group that comes together like this. That’s why it was so special.”
Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: North Dakota State QB recruit, Batavia too much for Hononegah
