Scouting Burlington Central @ Hampshire

Burlington Central (3-4, 2-1) at Hampshire (2-5, 1-2)

When Today at 7 p.m. at Hampshire Athletic Field

Last year Hampshire 21, Burlington Central 0

Last week Burlington Central 21, Marengo 14; Hampshire 26, North Boone 7

Outlook: For Burlington Central to keep its playoff hopes alive, the Rockets must win this Big Northern-East game on its arch rival's homecoming night. That's no easy task, especially since the Whip-Purs are coming off a much-needed 26-7 victory at North Boone, where the Rockets won 20-12 two weeks earlier. "After last week confidence is up and we've had a good week of practice," Hampshire coach Dan Cavanaugh said. Senior Ron Laramie led a Hampshire offense that rushed for over 300 yards against North Boone with 191 yards and 4 touchdowns. He'll face a Central defense that allowed 48 points to league-leading Richmond-Burton two weeks ago but has otherwise held opponents to an average of 14 points in three of its last four outings. "Defensively, we've played pretty well," Central coach Aaron Wichman said. "I know there were a few games where we gave quite a few points, but take away the Sycamore and Richmond games and we've done pretty well." The Rockets will get a lift on defense with the return of linebacker Rob Grosskopf (6-0, 235), a starter who was sidelined for several weeks with a concussion. Offensive lineman Rene Saravia (5-11, 225) also returns from a strained MCL suffered in Week 1. In a win against Marengo last week, Central junior tailback Tre Llanes rushed for 167 yards on 27 carries, and junior quarterback Tim Maroder rushed for 51 yards and threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to junior Michael Kellenberger. To make the playoffs the Rockets must win at Hampshire, pull the upset at Harvard (5-2) next week and hope they have enough playoff points to make the postseason as a 5-4 team in Class 5A. The Rockets have 34 playoff points.