Burlington rolls over Marengo
Burlington Central may not have had the season it wanted.
But Rockets' senior Tre Llanes certainly had the finish he was looking for. Llanes rushed for 178 yards on only 9 carries and found the end zone 4 times as Central thrashed Marengo 57-0 on Senior Night at Rocket Hill Friday.
The Rockets (3-6, 3-2) won the Big Northern East matchup with a combined 388 yards rushing while limiting Marengo (2-7, 2-3) to 112 total yards of offense.
"No matter what our record is, I had a great time with this team," Llanes said. "This was my last time and I let it all hang out. The offensive line is amazing."
Llanes scored 3 of his touchdowns during Central's 30-point first quarter. All of the Rockets ' points came during a 6 minute, 47 second stretch.
After Brandon Westergaard (13 carries, 86 yards) punched the ball in from a yard out with 7:47 left in the first quarter, Central quickly got the ball back as Al Willett recovered a fumble by Indians' quarterback Trae Hoeske at the Marengo 16-yard line.
Llanes dashed in from 16 yards out on the next play to extend Central's lead to 12-0. After a 7-play Marengo drive ended with a punt, Llanes again found the end zone, but this time on a 57-yard run with 2:11 left in the first quarter. Westergaard converted the 2-point conversion to extend Central's lead to 20-0.
The defense got into the mix after stopping running back Kris Rosemann in the end zone for a safety. Llanes scored his third touchdown of the first quarter when quarterback Ryan Ritchie and he connected on a 16-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage. Ritchie added the 2-point conversion to give Central a 30-0 advantage with a minute left in the first quarter.
"That was a pretty impressive showing by our seniors," Rockets' coach Aaron Wichman said. "It was the best we could do to send off our seniors."
Ritchie (6 rushes, 68 yards) gave Central a 38-0 lead at halftime after dashing in from 23 yards out with 3:05 left in the first half. Llanes punched in the 2-point conversion.
The senior then added a 75-yard sprint into the end zone to kick off the second half and make it a running clock with a 45-0 Central lead. Michael Kellenberg and Westergaard each added touchdown runs in the second half.
"Tre gives it everything he's got," Wichman said. "He plays with a lot of emotion. The last few weeks with Tre and Brandon running the ball, it's been pretty special."
Harvard 43, Hampshire 12: On the game's last play, Hampshire's Lorenzo Brandon ran around right end, broke a couple of tackles, and raced 15 yards into the end zone. The play made the score Harvard 43, Hampshire 12, but it illustrated how the Whip-Purs never gave up on a season filled with adversity.
Hampshire kept fighting to the end of a 1-8 season and it was appropriate that Brandon, who missed most of the year with a separated shoulder, got into the end zone on the last play.
The Whips played much better than the score indicated. They outgained the Hornets (4-5, 2-3), 265 yards to 247 and had a 16-11 first down edge, but did themselves in with mistakes.
Hampshire lost 2 fumbles on its first 3 plays from scrimmage. The Whips threw an interception and dropped a boatload of passes.
"It's tough to get a start like that," said Hampshire coach Dan Cavanaugh. "When you start off like that, to put our defense in that position early on, with a short field, it's just hard."
Hampshire's first two drives ended with fumbles. Harvard recovered at the Hampshire 26 both times and cashed both in for scored to lead 14-0 after one period.
The Hornets added a third score following a short Hampshire punt.
The Whips got on the board on a fourth-down pass from Chase Lundry to Nick Antonacci, but the Hornets answered right back to lead 29-6 at halftime.
Lundry passed for 102 yards and ran for 66. He completed just 7 of 26 attempts but many of the incompletions were dropped, including a sure touchdown pass in the end zone.
Antonacci added 59 yards on the ground for Hampshire.
Matt Smith scored on 3 short runs and Collin Nolen caught a pair of touchdown passes for Harvard.
Allen Oshinski