Dixon hands Burlington Central second loss
It goes without saying in Burlington - Dixon head football coach Dave Smith knows everything there is about Burlington Central. And those from Burlington know who Dave Smith is.
So the fact that Smith felt a little awkward about the ride up to Rocket Hill Friday was something everyone in the community could understand.
And yes, maybe Smith holds a 50-22 record and 4 playoff berths from 1997-2003 in the Central history books. But there was no stopping him from being competitive and taking pride in his Dukes' 26-6 Big Northern crossover win over the Rockets, even if it forced Smith to see what Rocket Hill was all about as a visitor for once.
"It was somewhat different because we were at the middle school tonight and we were going to have to go in the visitors locker room over here and I taught here for seven years and never once have I been in that locker room," said Smith. "I said it was going to be weird walking down the sidewalk going down to that locker room ... a lot of good memories here. A lot of good people."
Smith's Dukes (2-0) made one more good memory for him, it was just with the Dukes' best interest in mind this time around. Unfortunately for the Rockets (0-2), it was a lethal dose of senior quarterback Nathan Gascoigne and 3-year starting wide receiver Kyle LeBlanc.
Gascoigne passed for 229 yards and 3 touchdowns, converting 16 of his 25 passes, while LeBlanc caught 7 passes for 149 yards, including all those touchdown passes and the 20-0 lead with 9:44 left in the first half was more than enough to get a win for Smith over his old pals for what might mean the last time.
"This is it, they're going to the (Kishwaukee River Valley Conference) and we're going to an 11-team (Big Northern Conference)," Smith said. "They're 5A and we're 4A so we'll never see each other."
The Rockets might wish to never see LeBlanc ever again. At one point, he had 3 consecutive catches for scores. LeBlanc's 10-yard touchdown pass on the Dukes' first possession put Dixon on top 6-0. On the first play of Dixon's third drive, LeBlanc's grab in the flat developed down the right sideline for an 80-yard score with 4:00 left in the first. And after Kaylon Westmorland picked off a pass on a Burlington slant with 10:26 in the second quarter, LeBlanc turned on the jets for a 34-yard touchdown pass on the subsequent possession for a 3-touchdown lead.
Burlington didn't have any film on Dixon, which earned a 2-0 victory over Clemente last week thanks to a forfeit.
Dixon running back Arthur Cox, who finished with 123 yards on 8 carries and 2 catches for 21 yards, added a 72-yard touchdown run down the right sideline, a sequence where he broke a tackle near the goal line and spun his way to a 26-6 lead. That answered Burlington's possession, a 9-play, 64-yard drive that resulted with 1-yard touchdown from Jason Berango with 9:18 left in the third quarter to close within 20-6.
But that drive for BC was the only time the Rockets had any success. Dixon outgained the Rockets 405 to 186, picked off 3 and came away with 4 turnovers which prevented new BC coach Jason Newburger another shot as his first win.
"We're starting out well, we just can't seem to finish," said Berango, who finished with 47 yards rushing on 24 carries. "We have to find that motivation to finish off the drive and get the ball into the end zone."
The Rockets only scored once on their 12 possessions and included in that batch was a missed 33-yard field goal on a drive that began at the Dixon 18, and an interception that ended a second quarter drive where Tommy Moretti picked up a live ball after Esteban Escobar's punt deflected off a Duke at the BC 49.
"We just got to execute, we've got guys in the right spots," Newburger said. "It just seems like a big momentum swing and they give the momentum right back, that's kind of been the story in the first couple for weeks. But we'll get it turned around for Week 3."