AURORA, in – The Batesville Bulldogs made a statement to the rest of the Indiana Class 3A, Sectional 30 playoff field on Friday night.
On the road against Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference rival South Dearborn, the Bulldogs took control early and kept their foot on the gas in a 63-14 rout of the Knights in their playoff opener.
The opening kickoff foreshadowed how the evening would go for both teams, as Batesville’s Rylan Yeager took it 95 yards for a touchdown return to give the Bulldogs an early 7-0 lead.
Batesville would score three more times in the first quarter, highlighted by running back Zadiin Small’s 81-yard touchdown run, to lead 28-0 at the end of the first quarter.
🎧 LISTEN: Batesville Head Coach Evan Ulery on High School Football Tonight on FOX SPORTS 1360
Yeager would notch his second touchdown on the night, on a pass from Bulldogs quarterback Calvin Padgett, and it was 35-0 in the second quarter.
South Dearborn would get on the board, however, first on a 73-yard touchdown pass from Wyatt Adams to Tyler Christian, then a 19-yard touchdown pass from Mason Lane to Wyatt Adams, to make it a 35-14 game in the second quarter. That would be the extent of the scoring for South Dearborn, however, as Batesville would then rattle off 28 more points – in part to two more touchdown runs by Zadiin Small – to put the game out of reach.
With the victory, Batesville advanced to a second-round Indiana Class 3A, Sectional 30 battle next week with another EIAC rival, Franklin County, which blew out Rushville 65-19 on Friday night. South Dearborn finishes their season at 3-7.
SCORING BY QUARTERS
Batesville: 28-28-7-0-63
South Dearborn 0-14-0-0-14
SCORING PLAYS
B: Rylan Yeager 95-yard kick return (Ronan Post kick)
B: Zadiin Small 81-yard run (Post kick)
B: Dylan Shane 3-yard run (Post kick)
B: Jackson Elston 28-yard pass from Calvin Padgett (Post kick)
B: Rylan Yeager pass from Padgett (Post kick)
S: Tyler Christian 73-yard pass from Wyatt Adams (Nick Pfaffl kick)
S: Wyatt Adams 19-yard pass from Mason Lane (Pfaffl kick)
B: Small 47-yard run (Post kick)
B: Yeager pass from Padgett (Post kick)
B: Small run (Post kick)
B: Shane run (Post kick)
RECORDS: Batesville 8-2; South Dearborn 3-7
UP NEXT: Batesville at Franklin County (6-4), second round Indiana Class 3A, Sectional 30 playoffs; South Dearborn season is complete
