Batesville’s Travis Lecher threw three touchdown passes and his backup at quarterback, freshman Will Jaisle, ran for two scores as the Bulldogs defeated the Rushville Lions 48-26 in Class 3A Sectional 31 first round action Friday at the Dog Pound.
Batesville also won the Week 4 contest at home 44-0. Rushville showed improvement in Friday’s rematch.
Lecher’s first TD pass went to Jacob Meer from 27 yards out with 10:06 remaining in the first quarter. The PAT was no good, but Batesville led 6-0.
The senior signal caller struck again with 2:08 to go in the quarter when he hit Bryson Bonelli with a 15 yard strike. Braiden Foster added the extra point and the Bulldogs went up 13-0.
Rushville senior running back Adam Sizemore scored the first of his four rushing TDs when he sprinted 78 yards down the left sideline with 2:16 left in the opening stanza. Nathan Dora booted the PAT and it was now Batesville 13, Rushville 7.
WIth 6:07 to go in the second quarter, Bulldog freshman running back Gage Pohlman ran it in from the 18. Foster’s extra point made it 20-7 in favor of the Royal Blue and White.
Then, with just 33 seconds left before halftime, Lecher and Bonelli hooked up again, this time on a 24-yard play, and BHS went into intermission leading 27-7.
Pohlman notched his second TD run of when he hit paydirt from 5 yards away with 2:40 remaining in the third. Foster added the PAT to up the Batesville spread to 34-7.
Sizemore added his second touchdown of the game for the Lions. This one was a 54-yard burst with 11:02 to go in the fourth. The extra point was no good as the scoreboard now showed 34-13 BHS.
Bulldog coach Evan Ulery had sat Lecher midway through the third period and turned the offense over to Jaisle for the rest of the game. The ninth grader ran one in from the deuce with 3:09 left. Foster added the PAT to make it a 41-13 game.
Sizemore answered at the 2:12 mark when he ran 19 yards for his third score. Dora’s PAT changed the score to 41-20.
Then Jaisle ran for his second score, this one from 17 yards, with 1:43 left. Foster’s extra point pushed the host’s lead to 48-20 .
With 37 seconds to go, Sizemore capped off his 280 rushing yards and 4 TD night with an 11-yard run to the “Land of Six.” The point after was no good which made the final score Batesville 48, Rushville 26.
The Bulldogs advance to the second round of 3A-31 with a 6-4 record. They will be up against 6th ranked and undefeated Brownstown Central. Coach Reed May’s Braves rolled over Scottsburg 41-0 to improve to 10-0 and earn a date at the Dog Pound next Friday. You can hear the game on WRBI.
First-year coach Isaac Sliger’s Rushville squad ends the 2021 season at 0-10.
We thank WRBI’s Tom Snape for this edited report.