Rockets' defense can't stop run in loss to Oregon

OREGON - As far as defensive stands go, Burlington Central sure had one for the ages.

Same could go for mishaps on a punt.

The Rockets got the best and worst of what could happen during the fourth quarter of Friday's 16-14 loss at Oregon in a Big Northern Conference crossover.

After holding the Hawks on a first-and-goal from the 3-yard line late in the fourth quarter, Central looked to erase Oregon's 14-7 lead. The Hawks held Central, which was forced to punt from its 25. A procedure penalty moved the Rockets (1-3) back 5 yards and then a bad snap on the punt sent Tim Maroder running for his life.

He ended up in the end zone, met by a host of Hawk defenders as Oregon took a 16-7 lead with 6:28 left to play.

"We were all jacked up and then things didn't go our way," Maroder said about his team's defensive stand on the 3-yard line. "We had a chance to come back and win and then the safety happened."

Maroder (16 carries, 76 yards) did led Central down the field on the lone scoring drive of the second half on Central's next possession. The junior quarterback found Brandon Westergaard on an 8-yard touchdown pass with 3:49 left to play. Tim Vincent's extra point brought Central within 16-14.

Oregon (2-2) then did what it did best all night. Fullback Jeff Wehmhoefer (23 carries, 139 yards) picked up 2 first downs on the final Oregon possession of the game and allowed the Hawks to run the clock out. In all, Oregon rushed 60 times for 222 yards including touchdown runs of 6 and 2 yards from Wehmhoefer, which kept the defensive on the field way too long for Central coach Aaron Wichman.

"In the first and second half, we were on defense way too much," Wichman said. "I'm proud of our effort, but we're not going to win a lot of games if we're on defense for that long."

Maroder (6-for-10, 61 yards) connected with Kevin Kellish on a 10-yard pass 7 seconds before halftime to cut Oregon's lead to 14-7.