Athletic, smart Hagberg leads Burlington C. back to playoffs

With each new football season comes question marks on any team. Who will fill the void left by graduation is clearly the biggest question coaches face when they begin practice in the fall.

At Burlington Central, that question loomed large as this season got under way. The Rockets needed a quarterback to step in for all-area standout Justin Lee, who graduated after leading Central to a 10-2 season, a conference championship and a playoff run that ended in the Class 4A quarterfinals.

Enter Dan Hagberg. Fresh off qualifying for the state track meet as a hurdler, Hagberg entered last summer pretty much knowing the Rockets' QB job, and the leadership that comes with that position, was his. The question that remained was whether Hagberg could embrace that role and take the Rockets back to the playoffs.

Mission accomplished. Behind Hagberg's leadership, BC finished the regular season 6-3 and even though the Rockets didn't defend their conference title, they are back in the postseason and will travel to Morris tonight in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs.

"In our offense, we usually put the best combination of athleticism and brains at the quarterback spot and Danny has both," said BC coach Aaron Wichman. "Even though he wasn't all that experienced at the position, the summer helped him and then when he got the pads on and got used to contact, he just went from there and he's done a good job for us."

Hagberg brought a similar yet different style to the quarterback position than the Rockets had with Lee. While Lee dazzled fans with his twisting, juking moves, Hagberg proved to me a more straightforward runner with great speed.

"The coaches understood that we were different in the way we run. We all remember Justin and how he ran but the coaches just let me do my own thing," said Hagberg, who has blitzed opponents for 809 rushing yards on just 103 carries this season, a splendid 7.85 per carry average in the Rockets' option offense, one that also has allowed him to score 12 touchdowns.

Hagberg says his work in summer camp made him feel more comfortable in the position.

"I was optimistic about the whole thing," he said. "I just wanted to go out and have fun. I worked hard in the summer on the option and getting the steps down."

Being a track star, as was Lee, hasn't hurt the situation any either.

"They go well together," said Hagberg of track and football. "It's definitely a big change. Track is more form and basic speed and football is more agility but they mesh nicely together. Even though track is more of an individual sport you still have to think about the team. With football, having the team sport aspect is nice. It's good to know you have guys around you to rely on."

Wichman also likes the mesh between track and football that one of his key positions has had the last couple of years.

"Those two sports go well together and Danny has benefited from being a part of both programs," Wichman said. "It's no secret that football and track go well together."

Wichman has also been more than pleased with how Hagberg has accepted the leadership role for the Rockets, both before and after one of BC's top backs, Jason Wagner, went down with an injury.

"One of the things I'm real proud of this year is how Danny took over when Jason got injured," Wichman said. "And there were games even before Jason got hurt when Danny just took over. Agianst Sycamore in the second half, he just took over the game. He just decided things were going to go our way. He's a very carefree and easy-going person. He's definitely our leader but he leads by example more than vocally. He listens, he processes and he leads."

Hagberg says his life on the field is made easier by his teammates.

"We've got a great team chemistry this year," said the 6-foot, 170-pound Hagberg, who will make another run at state in the hurdles this coming spring. "We get along really well. You have to trust everyone on the team to be successful and we have that."

The future for Hagberg, after football, after the track season, and after graduation, appears to be heading east. With his 3.75 GPA and 30 ACT score, he's visited Princeton and Cornell and is also looking at Notre Dame. He will run track (and study business) in college, meaning the end of the Rockets' football season will likely be his final time in pads.

Hagberg also knows that tonight's task at Morris will take all the teamwork the Rockets can muster. BC is in Class 5A for the first time while Morris has bounced between 5A and 6A the past few years.

"They're pretty good and they're pretty big," said Hagberg of the 7-2 Redskins. "But you can't go into a game thinking you don't have a chance and we definitely think we have a chance."

With Hagberg at the controls, there's no doubt about that.