Stillman Valley rolls over Burlington Central
STILLMAN VALLEY — There wasn’t much secret to what Stillman Valley wanted to do. The Cardinals smashed Burlington Central in the face and kept smashing.
The Rockets got a heavy dose of big fullback Zac Hare, who ran for 156 yards and 2 touchdowns in less than a half in a 40-0 Cardinal victory Friday night in a Big Northern crossover.
Hare was more like a moose, running through arm tackles and occasionally over defenders.
Jacob Hoey, Eddie Torrance, and Connor McNames also ran for touchdowns, and Logan Alberts returned a fumble for another score.
Torrance’s touchdown made it 40-0 5:31 before halftime, and the clock ran continuously throughout the second half.
The Rockets were able to move the ball for short stretches, but couldn’t finish a drive. Trevor Davison gained 50 yards on just 9 carries before sitting out the second half.
“That’s that consistency thing,” said Central coach Rich Crabel. “When you’re young, you can’t continue to match that thing and eventually something bad’s going to happen when you’re playing against a good, physical team.”
Crabel got everyone into the game in the second half. Seven different players carried the ball for Central. Backup quarterback Parth Patel completed 4 of 6 passes for 33 yards while playing the entire second half.
There were a few bright spots for the Rockets (0-2).
“Even in the first half, we did some things better up front than we have,” said Crabel. “That was a little bit of a bright spot for us.”
The Cardinals went up 14-0 early on 20-yard touchdown runs by Hoey and Hare. Quarterback McNames added an 18-yard scoring run late in the first quarter. That score was set up by a Hoey interception and a 55-yard run by Hare.
Stillman Valley added 3 more scores in the second quarter, with Hare scoring for the second time and his backup, Torrance, also scoring.
Neither team really threatened in the second half, although the Cardinals had a touchdown called back on a holding penalty.