BATAVIA -- So, what exactly does J.R. Kabba mean to Batavia's football team?
"Oh my gosh," senior quarterback Jordan Coffey said. "The number of touchdowns and yards speak for themselves."
They spoke volumes Friday night.
Kabba carried the ball just 20 times but torched visiting Sycamore for 324 yards and touchdown runs of 11, 70, 74 and 74 yards, and Batavia rolled to a 47-22 victory.
Really, Batavia (5-2, 4-1 Western Sun Conference) needed every yard and every touchdown Kabba supplied. Sycamore entered riding a three-game losing streak, and its playoff hopes rested on Friday's outcome.
And the Spartans played like it. Despite allowing 47 points, the Spartans made two defensive plays -- an interception and a fumble recovery -- early to stop the Bulldogs, then stunned the huge crowd by taking a 22-21 lead on a 5-yard run by quarterback Michael Buckner with 7:54 left in the third quarter.
But it proved to be a fly on the back of an elephant. Batavia scored 26 unanswered points while dropping Sycamore to 3-4, 1-4.
Coffey (7-of-13, 139 yards), got the lead back on Batavia's next possession when he found Tyler Lindquist all alone in the end zone for a 30-yard score and a 29-22 Bulldogs lead.
Kabba's second 74-yard touchdown sprint, an 8-yard scoring toss from Coffey to Erich Zeddies and a 4-yard touchdown plunge by fullback Evan Olexa completed the rout and allowed Kabba, who was injured slightly late in the fourth quarter, some rest.
Yes, the Bulldogs worry when Kabba doesn't get up.
"Having a captain, having a leader, having explosiveness out of the backfield -- I mean, it's unbelievable," Coffey said. "There's no back in the state of Illinois like him."
Plus, he's a factor in the passing game.
"He opens it up," Coffey said. "(The defense focuses) on him and guys like Tyler Lindquist, Erich Zeddies, Ryan Webb and Jay Douglas all end up getting open. He brings so much difference to the game."
Batavia, with Kabba leading the way, finished with 540 yards offensively. The Bulldogs needed them because Buckner threw for 247 yards, including a 75-yard score on a bubble screen to junior Marckie Hayes (five catches, 142 yards).
"I said to our coaches on the sideline, two seconds before that play, 'Make sure you're defending that screen because it's bound to come,'" Batavia coach Mike Gaspari said. "Sure enough, boom."
Compared with Kabba, it was more like a squeak. Batavia 47, Sycamore 22
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