Burlington Central falls in OT

The Burlington Central football rallied from a 14-point deficit to force overtime and took the lead in overtime Friday night at Rocket Hill.

That lead lasted one play.

Sycamore's Trent Greer scored on a 10-yard run on the Spartans' first play of overtime after Central kicked a field goal in the first possession of overtime to give Sycamore a 20-17 nonconference victory.

"We worked so hard for it," Central junior quarterback Ryan Ritchie said. "I really wanted it. The whole team wanted it."

Central (1-1) scored with 36 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to get the game into overtime. Johnny Major intercepted the Spartans' Ryan Bartels on the Rockets' 10-yard line and returned it to the Sycamore 45 with 4:18 remaining.

The Rockets went on an 11-play drive, including converting a fourth-and 1 from the 26 with just over 2 minutes left. On second-and-goal from the 8 with 44 seconds left, Ritchie rolled right and found Zach Ranney for a touchdown. Ritchie then ran in the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 14-14 with 36 seconds remaining.

Sycamore (2-0) got the ball down to the Rockets' 30, but a 47-yard field goal attempt was short and wide as time expired in regulation.

"Our kids knew they could stick with them," Rockets coach Rich Crabel said. "They never doubted it for a minute. That was the theme of the week."

Central got the ball first in overtime, but two incompletions in the end zone forced the Rockets' Cody Wallace to kick a 22-yard field goal for a 17-14 lead. But Central was unable to hold the lead as Greer, who finished with 71 yards rushing, scored to start a wild celebration from the Spartans.

Sycamore was happy heading into halftime as well, holding onto a 14-0 lead. Bartels had a 1-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and hit Ben Niemann for an 18-yard score in the second. The Spartans had a goal-line stand to end the half. Central had first-and-goal from the 2 with 14 seconds left. Ritchie, who passed for 141 yards, threw an incompletion with 10 seconds left. On second down, Ritchie handed the ball to Joel Bouagnon, who was stopped at the 1. Central was out of timeouts and the halftime buzzer sounded with the Rockets getting no points.

"They knew we were going to throw the ball. Everybody in the stands thought we were going to throw the ball," Crabel said. "So we ran the ball. We came up a little bit short."

Tyler Majewski intercepted Bartels and returned it 30 yards for a TD 49 seconds into the third quarter. The point-after attempt was blocked, as the Rockets got within 14-6. The defense kept the Spartans from scoring the rest of regulation.

Bouagnon finished with 51 yards on 17 carries. Ranney had 6 receptions for 55 yards.