Bulldog has his day

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J.R. Kabba sat on a trainer's table, staring out into the night.

Only it wasn't the type of reflection the senior running back would have like to have Friday night.

Jordan Coffey sat next to him, patting Kabba's pads, reassuring his friend he would see this night and remember the greatness.

With 9:59 to in the Bulldogs' 47-22 Western Sun victory over Sycamore, Kabba had just broken off another long run -- 16 yards -- and he violently hit the ground. He got up slowly, only to fall.

A collective breath was pulled back at a packed Batavia stadium, but after a few moments he walked off the field under his own power.

Kabba's final run capped a day in which he topped 300 yards rushing and scored four touchdowns, three of which came from 70 yards or longer.

Only sitting on that table, he couldn't remember where he was, let alone the record-setting day he had just had.

"Oh my gosh, he was completely gone," Coffey said. "It was just so hard to see him like that because I've been so close to him for so long and for him to look at me and not even remember my name, it was weird, you know?"

According to Bulldogs coach Mike Gaspari, the single-game rushing record for Batavia was somewhere in the 200-yard range -- Kabba might even have set it earlier in the season.

But Friday was special.

On his sixth handoff of the game from the Batavia 30 and out of the I-formation, he slipped through some arms at the 31, broke a tackle at the 34 and was gone.

A Sycamore defensive assistant shook his head.

"I looked up and he hit it," he said. "One yard with two guys around his legs."

After two Bulldogs turnovers let the Spartans back into the game early in the second quarter, Kabba took a handoff from Coffey out of the shotgun from his own 26.

Seventy-four yards. He was like a ghost -- you saw him, but you weren't quite sure.

The masterstroke came in the third quarter, shooting up the right sideline. Kabba went from his own 26 to the Spartans' 30 in a blink. And that's where the run should have ended.

Sycamore linebacker Ryan Ericson had tracked him across the field and took a textbook angle. He had Kabba pinned on the sideline, one on one, nowhere to go.

As Ericson went to make the tackle, Kabba didn't stutter. He just dropped it into fourth gear while veering to his left. Ericson went sliding away and Kabba cut upfield. Another 74-yard touchdown.

"The kid's unbelievable," Coffey said.

It wasn't all Kabba, as the Bulldogs offensive line of Jake Hilliard, Ben Heftter, Alex Berg, Sean Boyle and Phil Livingston either made just enough of a sliver of daylight, or completely sealed off an end to let him do his thing in the second level.

Kabba was patient, letting those guys set the stage. The group was nearly flawless blocking in a variety of packages, from the pro set to the I to shotgun draws.

"When you've got a special running back like J.R., any play can be 70 yards, so we just stay on our assignments and we kept talking and communicating," Berg said.

With just under two minutes to go in the game, Sycamore turned the ball over on downs and Coffey prepared to run out the clock. He talked to his friend and patted his knees.

"Relax and don't think too hard. Stay warm and you'll be all right," Coffey told his friend.

Coffey told him he had one of the greatest nights a Bulldogs runner has ever had and the team secured the victory for him.

Shortly thereafter, Kabba was taken to the locker room.

"It's so hard to see him like that," Coffey said. "He'll see this game and he'll eventually remember stuff. He's got a gift from God and today we saw his full potential.

He stopped.

"Maybe not even his full potential."

It's a scary thought for future Batavia opponents, whether he is cleared to play next week, against Geneva in Week 9 or even the first round of the playoffs on Halloween night.

jowczarski@scn1.com