Scouting Marengo @ Burlington Central

Marengo (2-4, 0-2) at Burlington Central (2-4, 1-1)

When Today at 7 p.m. at Rocket Hill

Last year Burlington Central 35, Marengo 14

Last week Richmond-Burton 48, Burlington Central 14; North Boone 27, Marengo 22

Outlook This is a better Marengo team than recent vintage. The Indians won their first 2 games of the year against Suburban Christian Conference schools Chicago Christian (20-0) and Aurora Central Catholic (14-10). However, Marengo was then throttled by Winnebago (33-7), Stillman Valley (55-0) and Harvard (49-14). Last week they lost to North Boone 27-22, a team Central beat two weeks earlier 20-12. "They are a lot more competitive than they have been in years past," Central coach Aaron Wichman said. "They do some good things offensively and defensively, so we'll have to be ready for that. They've shown some good capabilities on film." The Marengo defense gives up an average of 336 yards per game. This will be the fourth time the Rockets have faced a 5-2 defense. Marengo's offense averages 203 yards, mostly running the ball out of I formation with traps. The Rockets must sweep their final 3 games against Marengo, Hampshire (1-5) and Harvard (5-1) to become playoff eligible. "Everybody's aware of the situation that we're in," Wichman said. "You can't go 5-4 until you win the next one, so we've just concentrated a lot on Marengo this week, just trying to take that next step."