Burlington Central 35, Sycamore 21
The third quarter of the second game of the season may be a little early to be considered a turning point.
But Burlington Central turned something.
The Rockets scored 28 unanswered points, erased a 21-7 halftime deficit and dominated Sycamore's defense in their 35-21 nonconference victory on Rocket Hill Friday.
The Rockets, who had 6 turnovers in their first six quarters this season, wore down the heavily hyped Spartans' defense. Led by a pair of touchdowns from quarterback Dan Hagberg, Central (1-1) rushed for 252 yards in the second half. Hagberg finished the game with 269 yards on the ground and scored 3 times.
"We kept the ball on the ground," Hagberg said of the Rockets' second half running success. "We came up with a lot of big plays. (At halftime) we looked up at the scoreboard. We had to keep the ball on the ground."
No play may have been bigger then Greg Dickson's 1-yard gain to convert a fourth-and-1 on the Sycamore 2-yard line with just over 2 minutes left to play. The conversion would set up a 1-yard touchdown run for Dickson (11 rushes, 45 yards) with 1:46 remaining to give the Rockets a 35-21 cushion.
Jason Wagner had scored on Central's previous series when he bulldozed in for his own 1-yard score with 4:11 reaming to give the Rockets their first lead. The series was set up after Frank Wleklinski recovered an onside kick.
Central finished with 18 more offensive plays (30-12) in the second half and outgained the Spartans (1-1) 252-68. Of those 68 yards, 40 came on Sycamore's final series as quarterback Nick Anderson (14 of 24, 208 yards, 2 TDs) hooked up with Will Strack. The drive ended two plays later when Kevin Kellish grabbed Central's second interception of the night.
Turnovers were the story of the second half for the Rockets.
Central's first series of the second half ended in a punt, but the Rockets recovered the ball when the punt bounced off of a Sycamore player and Curt Mastio recovered it. Hagberg took full advantage scoring a 35-yard touchdown 3 plays later to tie the game with 8:40 left to bring Central to within a touchdown at 21-14.
After forcing Sycamore to punt, the Rockets wound up deep in their own territory starting from the 9. This time it took just 2 plays before Hagberg broke loose on an 89-yard scoring run in which he broke a tackle and spun from a defender before cruising in for the score.
"He's patient," Central coach Aaron Wichman said of Hagberg. "He just waits for that little seem to be there and then he takes off."
Hagberg scored the Rockets' lone touchdown in the first half to tie the game at 7. Anderson connected with Tom Hensley and Trae Mottet for touchdowns in the first half. Cody Bex ran in a 2-yard score to put Sycamore up 21-7 with 6:54 left in the second quarter.