Burlington Central 18, Hampshire 7
Burlington Central's secondary came through when it mattered most in an 18-7 victory at Hampshire Friday night, putting the Rockets in position once again to finish second to none in the Big Northern Conference's Eastern Division.
Three times in the fourth quarter Central defensive backs protected a 12-7 lead by deflecting passes away from intended Hampshire receivers at the last second, thereby stopping drives.
Trailing 12-7 early in the fourth quarter, Hampshire (4-4, 2-2) drove 41 yards to the Central 15-yard line before they were foiled by a pair of young Central defensive backs.
On third-and-7 sophomore cornerback Kevin Kellish (6-0, 170) knocked away a pass over the middle intended for Hampshire tight end T.J. Burzak (6-4, 205), who had 4 catches for 65 yards.
On fourth down Burzak lined up to the right side, faked a slant route, then cut outside toward the sideline.
But freshman corner Tim Maroder, who had just given Central the lead back on its previous possession by running 52 yards for a touchdown on a simple sweep to the right, didn't bite on the fake.
"I thought he was going in, but coach was telling me the whole game: 'Outs, outs outs.' I saw (Burzak) break in, then break out. I saw the ball there and I dove for it."
Maroder's last-second, diving deflection of Hampshire quarterback Trace Teboda's pass forced the Whips to turn the ball over on downs.
"I threw it bad," Teboda said. "I was supposed to be up top. I should have thrown it sooner because (Maroder) was pushed off. That was my fault. I was so mad about that."
Central's offense went three-and-out and Hampshire drove again, this time to the Rockets' 42-yard line. Again, the Hampshire offense needed a fourth-down conversion. On fourth-and-15 at the Central 42-yard line Teboda's deep pass was batted down by Hagberg.
"Huge plays, and by kids who don't have a lot of varsity experience in a big game," said Rockets coach Aaron Wichman. "Those guys -- Kevin Kellish is a sophomore and Tim Maroder is a freshman -- are young by age but not experience anymore. To their credit they were making plays.
"Safeties Dan Hagberg and Tim Colby were making big plays back there all night. It was just a great effort on their part."
The Rockets (6-2, 4-0) capitalized on the last of their defensive stops. On third-and-long from his own 39-yard line, Hagberg ran to the left side on a keeper, cut inside a great block from wide receiver Aaron Straub and raced 61 yards down the sideline for the game-sealing touchdown with 1:25 to play.
"I just read (the block)," Hagberg said. "On third-and-10 we needed a big play. The line, the receivers -- everyone -- blocked like we needed a touchdown and that's what we got."
Central took a 6-0 lead on a 30-yard run by Hagberg in the second quarter, but the point-after kick failed.
Hampshire took a 7-6 lead with 5:16 left in the third quarter by driving 74 yards in 10 plays, a march capped by Joe Moore's 5-yard score.
But the Rockets answered 2 possessions later on a 1-play drive -- Maroder's 52-yard sweep for a touchdown.
Central's victory sets up a winner-takes-all showdown for the BN-E title next week on the road between the undefeated Rockets and undefeated Harvard, which beat North Boone 45-27 Friday.
Central has a chance to finish as undefeated division champions for the second straight season.