Burlington Central blanks Genoa-Kingston

Burlington Central wanted its defense to pitch a shutout.

The defensive line made sure it would happen.

With an aggressive pass rush and constant pressure on Genoa-Kingston, the Rockets dominated the line and took a 33-0 victory in Big Northern East play in Genoa Friday night.

“We did very well on defense,” Rockets’ linebacker Chandler Crary, who finished with 2.5 of Central’s 5 sacks. “Our front line did their job.”

The Cogs (1-5, 0-2) were held to just 43 total yards in the first half, with 40 yards coming on 4 passes. Central (4-2, 1-1) limited the Cogs’ rushing attack to 4 yards on 33 carries in the game. The lack of a running game was evident as Genoa-Kingston managed just 4 first downs in the game — 2 of which came off Central penalties.

The Rockets’ defense added a safety in the fourth quarter.

“Our defensive line played well tonight,” said first-year Central coach Rich Crabel. “Our pass rush was pretty good. Overall, I’m pretty happy with our effort.”

Another effort Crabel was quick to point out was running back Joel Bouagnon’s.

The junior plowed through the Cogs’ defense all night finishing with 217 yards on 18 carries. The biggest play from Bouagnon came after Central received the ball following a G-K missed field goal.

Bouagnon took the handoff on a first-and-10 from the Rockets’ 20 and sprinted, banged and rumbled past the entire Cogs’ defense for an 80-yard touchdown run. The score came with 1 minute, 35 seconds left in the first half and helped extend the Central lead to 21-0 at the half.

He would add an 8-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter, finishing the game with 6 rushes of 10 or more yards. All of this came after Central drove the ball 68 yards on a 6-minute possession to open the game, but could not score.

“After that you need to come back and show them what’s up,” said Bouagnon, who also had a 66-yard touchdown reception. “It’s unacceptable to drive all that way and not score.”

After the defense held G-K to 3-and-out on its first possession, Joe Breeden returned a punt 45 yards to put Central up 6-0. Cody Wallace added the extra point to put the Rockets’ up 7-0, he would later add a 32-yard field goal.

Quarterback Ryan Ritchie went 9 of 19 for 184 yards with a touchdown pass to Bouagnon in the second quarter for the Rockets, who can become playoff eligible with a win at Harvard next week.