Burlington Central stymies Hampshire
Has .500 ever looked so good?
That's where Burlington Central sits following Friday's 35-14 homecoming victory over Hampshire on Rocket Hill.
That's .500 through six weeks in the Rockets' first season in the Fox Valley Conference - or about three more wins than some expected.
"It's exciting," senior two-way lineman Matt Muetterties said. "I love the way the team is communicating and playing as a team. It's great to show people we can play with them. I'm excited to see what's next for us."
What's immediately next is a killer three-game stretch to end the regular season against Prairie Ridge, Huntley and Cary-Grove.
But the Rockets (3-3, 3-3 in the FVC) are used to being told what they can't do.
"Coming into it we heard it even from our own school who said that we wouldn't win a game," another senior leader, Jake Lenschow, said. "We just used that as fuel. Now we're 3-3 and that's a pretty big accomplishment in itself."
Hampshire (0-6, 0-6) didn't make things easy early. The Whip-Purs engineered a 10-play, 63-yard drive midway through the first quarter that included three third down conversions, the final one a 2-yard dive up the middle by quarterback Jackson Milison for a touchdown and 6-0 lead.
The Rockets tried to answer on their next drive only to see Alexis Renovato recover a fumble at Hampshire's 12-yard line.
The Whip-Purs held that 6-0 lead until a disastrous final minute right before halftime. It started when the Rockets got a 5-yard reception by Nathan Arians on a 4th-and-4, then a 3-yard run by Lenschow on 4th-and-1 to keep a drive alive that quarterback Mark Ganziano ended with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Luke Thompson.
Andrew Solomon booted the first of his five straight point after kicks to put the Rockets up 7-6 with :48 seconds left in the half.
Jack Westergaard picked off Milison and returned the ball to the Whips' 11-yard line. On the next play, Ganziano found a wide open Arians in the end zone for another TD and a 14-6 halftime lead after the Whips had controlled nearly the entire half.
"We're just young," Rockets coach Brian Melvin said. "The game was too big for them in the beginning. We picked it up. The seniors, great leadership."
Hampshire never recovered in the second half. Again, the Rockets put two touchdowns on the board in a quick sequence. Lenschow scored both - the first on a 22-yard run and the second on a 30-yard halfback option pass from Gavin Sarvis after the first of Zach Lawrence's two second half interceptions.
"That was a rough way to end the half," Whip-Purs coach Jake Brosman said. "It kind of set the tone. We didn't respond correctly in the second half. Stuff we have to work on. Stuff we have to figure out in our program to start going up."
Sarvis concluded the scoring for the Rockets with an 8-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. He led a balanced rushing attack with 56 yards on 17 carries while also throwing a TD pass, playing middle linebacker on defense and punting six times. Lenschow added 49 yards rushing, and Ganziano was sharp throwing the ball 14 times and completing 10 for 116 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions.
"We're all clicking pretty well together," Lenschow said. "There's not a kid on the team that doesn't talk, doesn't communicate, and it just helps us grow."
John Brady Young ran for a 3-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter for the Whips. He rushed for 46 yards and Millison threw for 126 on 14-of-30 passing as the Rockets outgained Hampshire 278-175 to shake off the slow start.
Ryan Knief provided plenty of pressure on Milison with 2 sacks.
"We had pressure on the quarterback and our secondary was awesome," Muetterties said. "It was a great game for our defense."