Rick Armstrong’s 3 takeaways from Week 4 of high school football season in Aurora-Elgin area

It starts up front for any football team wanting to succeed on offense.

Although the combatants toil in relative anonymity, a mass of bodies filling the “trenches” along the line of scrimmage, their importance to the game’s outcome is generally conceded to be significant.

And it’s true at all levels of the sport.

We saw it last Friday in two high-profile games in Week 4 of the high school season when Batavia prevailed 45-21 over St. Charles North in a DuKane Conference showdown and West Aurora rolled 50-7 at South Elgin in a battle of Upstate Eight West contenders.

Then we saw it again Sunday in the debacle in Indianapolis — OK, my words — in Week 3 of the NFL season.

Ask any Chicago Bears fan who watched in angst as their team faced first-and-goal at the Colts’ 4-yard line in a key sequence, only to be stopped on four straight plays, about the importance of the offensive line.

Here are my three takeaways following Week 4:

Do you know me?

Second-ranked Batavia played host to the top-ranked North Stars, spotting them a 14-3 lead at halftime before rallying behind senior running back Nathan Whitwell . The Bulldogs’ workhorse ran 39 times for 264 yards and scored five touchdowns in the second half.

Equally important?

Of course, it was the work of a Batavia offensive line that had no returning starters from last year’s Class 7A state semifinalist, leading to one key question mark for this season.

No more.

“There was no halftime screaming or yelling,” Batavia assistant coach Alvin Cole said. “The message was simply, ‘Let’s just execute better and calm down.’

“It was a very calm halftime. Sometimes you can get too hyped up trying to turn things around. We don’t let up.”

Center Bradyn Martinson is flanked by left guard Kyle Peyton and right guard Mason Popp , all seniors. Anchoring the group are a pair of juniors in 6-foot-5, 260-pound left tackle Joshua Hecht and 6-5, 285-pound right tackle Ryan Myers .

And according to Cole, don’t forget juniors Steven Bannos and Tucker Saam , who rotate in and out of the game.

Batavia did that last season, too, with several of this year’s starters coming in with considerable experience despite not starting the previous fall.

Wise beyond his years

Sophomore running back Bryce Riley had a similar impact for West Aurora, running 11 times for 229 yards and two TDs and catching a pass for 14 yards.

Preparing this past summer to make the jump to varsity, Riley knew what to say.

“You have to practice with high intensity, you have to practice fast,” he said. “It gets harder each week. I got stronger, faster and smarter, learning from the higher-up guys.”

Those guys, he said, are senior running backs Azuriah Sylvester and Michael Williams .

And that wasn’t all.

“I feel comfortable, especially with my line,” Riley said. “I have a great bond with those guys, great connections. To me, the line is the most important part of being a running back. We do it together.”

West Aurora’s starters on the O-line are, from left tackle to right tackle: seniors Juan Pacheco , Francesco Cicero and Corbin Blair and juniors Kieran Duncan and Alfonso Aguilar .

The Blackhawks also regularly rotate into the game senior Dionte Shaw and junior Liam Norris .

Also, West Aurora (4-0) played Friday without star receiver Terrence Smith , the Iowa recruit, due to an apparent minor leg injury but certainly don’t want to be without him for too long.

The numbers game

Second-ranked Oswego (4-0) leads the area in points allowed, having given up just three touchdowns for 20 points so far this season.

Crosstown rival Oswego East (2-2), ranked No. 7, has yielded 36 points but its defense has given up just four TDs.

Offensively, a strong passing game helps Geneva (4-0, 2-0) lead area teams in scoring with 215 points. Senior quarterback Tony Chahino has thrown for 1,012 of his team’s 1,053 yards passing, which is nearly a 2-1 edge over a running game with 577 yards.

The Vikings’ defense has been strong, too, allowing a DuKane Conference-best 54 points.

It’s early, but Geneva and archrival Batavia (4-0, 2-0) share the league lead, with a potential battle for first place coming in two weeks if the Vikings can get past Glenbard North and Bulldogs can beat Wheaton North this week.