Byron spoils Melvin's debut at Burlington Central

New uniforms. New scoreboard. New coach. New tradition. The new-look Burlington Central football team began the night full of hope and promise, but the Rockets' excitement was doused for a week by the visiting Byron Tigers in a 20-0 opening night loss Friday at Rocket Hill.

But while the result of a loss may seem similar to BC's teams of the past three years, new head coach Brian Melvin feels this team is very different.

"One-hundred percent we are a different team," Melvin said. "The community has been great to me here, and I can't ask for a better opportunity. We took a 1-8 team from a year ago and tried to beat the No. 9 team in the state last year. That's pretty good."

The Tigers scored their first points after a bad snap on a punt gave them the ball on the Rockets' 25. Senior Trevor Koritz ran the ball in from the 10-yard line five plays later for a 7-0 Tiger lead.

The Rockets' defense held strong on Byron's next possession, forcing a turnover on downs after the Tigers moved the ball to the Rockets' 15-yard line. Byron intercepted a pass on the Rockets' fourth play of their next drive, and scored again just before the end of the first half on a 2-yard run by senior Justin Martinez. The Tigers' final score came with 2:48 left in the third quarter on a 1-yard run by junior Michael Criscione.

Senior quarterback Cameron Kaldenberger hasn't lost hope or confidence on the season, his team, or his new coach after the Week 1 loss.

"We're looking for a big year," Kaldenberger said. "Coach Melvin has given us a new look, so we're going to be good this year. We had a little setback here tonight, but we're going to keep working and remain confident. We're going to work on our pass routes and in the run game, we're going to work on being more explosive. We're going to keep playing hard because it will pay off."

While Melvin admits it would have been great to win his first game, he indicated that he was happy with the effort his team gave going up against a team that went to the Class 3A quarterfinals a year ago.

"I am not disappointed in the effort," Melvin said. "Our defense is pretty good and I said that in the offseason. When you play a team like that, they just grind on you. I told the kids that we played a really good team right there, and we played them pretty good. This is a tough game for tough people, and I told them they're tough kids because they battled through last year and we were right there tonight."

Hall of Famer Gary Stran, who coached the Rockets from 1975-1991 and went 110-49, was honored before the game.

"It's really special to come back," Stran said. "I know he (Melvin) is really looking forward to building the program. I was very fortunate to coach here, and I'm really thankful for all of the assistant coaches, families, and kids we had here during my time. I told him (Melvin) to just be patient and stick to what he knows and he'll be successful."

"Tonight was a special night and I got to eat with coach Stran before the game," Melvin said. "I told him I'm going to beat his record. It was a special night for him, and a special night for me, and it was really great to have him come out tonight."