Burlington Central stays atop BN-East
Subtracting the leading rusher and defensive leader from a Big Northern East football showdown with resurgent and prolific Marengo could have been a formula for disaster for Burlington Central.
The Rockets didn't let the negatives of losing running back Jason Berango early in the second quarter and not having three-year starting linebacker Cole Roach bring them down. Players such as Anton Christensen and Brad Sorensen stepped up in different roles as they won their fourth straight game and remained in a tie for first in the division with a 21-13 victory on a chilly and windy Friday night at Rod Poppe Fields in Marengo.
"This was the next step we have to take to win conference," said Christensen, a senior linebacker who helped keep Marengo nearly 25 points under its scoring average. "That's our goal and we have to keep practicing hard."
Burlington (4-2, 4-0), which is trying to win its first division title since 2006, never faced a deficit on the scoreboard and took advantage of 4 turnovers as it kept pace with Johnsburg (5-1, 4-0), which beat Genoa-Kingston.
But the on-field deficits included Roach to a broken leg this week and Berango to a knee injury just 3½ minutes after he scored from 23 yards for a 14-0 lead on the final play of the first quarter.
Sorensen came into the game with 117 yards rushing and some reps on defense at outside linebacker this season. His 117 yards against Marengo (4-2, 2-2) included a 30-yard touchdown for a 21-7 lead with 58 seconds left in the third and he also broke up 4 passes.
"I've been rotating in and out all during the season," Sorensen said. "I'm comfortable running the ball when I'm needed."
Trevor Davison had 96 yards on 21 carries with a 1-yard touchdown run and ended the game with an interception near midfield.
"Hopefully it's nothing serious," said Burlington coach Rich Crabel of Berango's injury, "but we have a good rotation there, too, with Trevor and Brad."
Without Roach, Christensen moved to his spot from strongside linebacker. He recovered a fumble to set up the second touchdown, had a sack and caught quarterback Ethan Walsweer (18-for-41, 192 yards) from behind just before he could get to the pylon on a run from the Burlington 3 on the final play of the first half.
"Those are big shoes to fill but I tried to do my best," Christensen said of Roach. "It was just instinct (stopping Walsweer). That's my job ... to try to be there. I didn't think I would make it actually."
Jonathan Frederickson's interception set up Burlington's first score and linebacker Craig Kein also recovered a fumble. Marengo broke the shutout 4:12 after halftime on Walsweer's 34-yard pass to Dakota Kissack and got within the final margin on Walsweer's 3-yard run with 4:52 left.
But Branden Sorensen's sack and a combined stop by Christensen and Frederickson thwarted a Marengo threat at the Burlington 17 early in the fourth quarter.
"We've worked all summer against this kind of offense," Crabel said. "We miss Cole's leadership, but we knew those people could handle those jobs in this case tonight."