Jacobs gets its offense going in win over Burlington Central

While teammates Ben Ludlum and Nas Canty receive a lot of attention and praise for their highlight-reel runs, Jacobs senior fullback Aidan Roberts enjoys his role in the shadows.

"You can't have three of the same type of runner," Roberts said. "That's why I love to do what I do."

Roberts, Ludlum and Canty put on a textbook display of inside-outside speed and power Friday night as the Golden Eagles racked up 412 yards rushing in their 46-26 Fox Valley Conference victory over Burlington Central. Jacobs (2-2) piled up 556 total yards on the night.

Ludlum, who scored 4 TDs in his team's victory last week over Dundee-Crown, ran 15 times for 220 yards and another four touchdowns. Canty chipped in with 12 carries, 110 yards and a score.

"I love blocking for those guys, but I've been waiting three years to run the ball," said Roberts, who also plays linebacker. "I love the dirty work, getting the tough yards, the yards nobody else wants to get. Ben and Nas are such great runners, and they'll be great runners again next year. What a great redemption for us on senior night."

While the running game was chewing up huge chunks of turf, quarterback Sam Deligio had a solid night, completing 6 of 10 passes for 144 yards.

"The ground game was amazing tonight, but we also wanted to get the passing game going, given that we have such gifted receivers," Jacobs coach Brian Zimmerman said. "Offensively, we look to achieve balance and tonight we had it pretty good. But the kids had a great week of practice."

Burlington (0-4) found itself in some early holes, trailing 14-0 after one quarter and 34-7 at halftime. But the Rockets, who lost starting quarterback Mark Ganziano to a broken wrist last week, fought back to within 34-19 after junior quarterback Shawn Adkerson (12-for-18, 191 yards, 2 TDs) found receiver Marc Wisniewski (7 receptions, 122 yards) for back-to-back scores in the late second and early third quarters.

"Shawn was thrown into battle and I am so impressed with how he responded under fire," Rockets coach Brian Melvin said. "And I'm proud of how Mark helped Shawn during the week. Tonight, though, all the credit goes to Jacobs. Coach Zim has done a great job with his team."

Ludlum scored on runs of 3, 27, 35 and 9 yards. Deligio added a first-quarter TD run while Canty scored in the second quarter from three yards out and Roberts bulled in from the one late in the third quarter.

Gavin Sarvis led the Rockets' rushing attack with 112 hard-earned yards on 17 carries and one touchdown. Miles Janecek scored BC's other TD with 1:58 to play. Central managed a respectable 351 total yards, 160 of those coming on the ground.

For Jacobs, Max Stec had four receptions for 79 yards while Grant Stec caught two balls for 65 yards.