Burlington Central downs Marengo

BURLINGTON – Burlington Central wore down visiting Marengo with its ground game on Friday night, winning 21-14 in Big Northern Conference East Division play.

The Rockets (3-4, 2-1) used three runners to rush for 247 yards on 44 carries, while opting to pass on only three plays in cold and muddy conditions.

Leading 14-0 heading into the fourth quarter, Central sustained a late Marengo charge to come away with the much-needed victory which keeps the Rockets' playoff hopes alive heading into the final two weeks.

Up 14-6 with 10:15 remaining in the contest, the Rockets were able to put some distance between themselves and the Indians (2-5, 0-3) with their rushing attack, led by Tre Llanes.

After totaling 99 rushing yards in the first half on 19 carries, Llanes opened the second half with just five yards on his first four carries. However, Llanes quickly changed his fortune in the half, coming up with a run of 33 yards and two plays later, an 18-yard TD run to put Central ahead 21-6 with 7:56 to go. Llanes finished with 159 yards on 27 carries.

"I was just out there doing my job," Llanes said. "Most of our seniors are linemen and I knew that they were going to do what they had to do for senior night and I had to do my job and get it in there so that we can win this game. It means so much to win. We're fighting for the playoffs."

Added coach Aaron Wichman: "Tre's getting more experienced and he's running the ball hard. He's being patient when he has to be patient, lowering his head when he has to lower his head."

After both teams struggled to move the ball in the first 1½ quarters of the game, the Rockets took over on Marengo's 39-yard line with 3:43 left in the first half. Central moved the ball to the 27-yard line but was slowed, setting up a fourth-and-11 play.

Rather than try a field goal, Central opted to go for it and the gamble paid off – just not in the way anyone on Central's sideline could have imagined.

Amidst pressure from Marengo, quarterback Tim Maroder tossed it to the far-left side of the field toward the end zone. But his pass fell a few yards short of intended target Michael Kellenberger and right to a member of Marengo's secondary.

Luck was on Central's side however, as the ball bounced off the arms of the Marengo player and right into the hands of Kellenberger (2 receptions, 39 yards), who trotted the final three yards in for the TD with 1:41 remaining, putting the Rockets ahead 7-0 at halftime.

"The route was a little bit deeper than what it was supposed to be but I was just waiting for him to make his cut and I launched it up," Maroder said. "It was amazing, the same thing happened to us against Richmond(-Burton) last week. It feels good to be on the other side."

On the first play of the second half, Central turned to Maroder, who after leaving last week's game with a concussion, finally got his chance to run with the ball.

On his first carry of the game, Maroder took it 37 yards into Marengo territory. Six plays later, Brandon Westergaard (11 carries, 37 yards) took it in from four yards out to put the Rockets up 14-0.

"The coaches were kind of trying to keep me away from the hard contact but I kept asking them (to run the ball)," said Maroder, who finished with 51 yards on six carries. "It worked good."

Marengo headed into Central territory on its next possession but quarterback Alex Grimscheid was picked off by Westergaard, taking Central into the fourth quarter up 14.

The Indians finally got on the board 1:45 into the fourth on a 12-yard TD run by Zach Carlson. Marengo tallied its final score with 2:51 remaining on a 1-yard run by Grimscheid and followed it up with a two-point conversion. The Indians were then penalized on the ensuing onsides kick when the ball didn't go the full 10 yards before touching a Marengo player.

"When you play on a field with conditions like this, it's not going to be a picture-perfect game," Wichman said. "We had a few too many penalties and that makes it hard to keep momentum. Overall, tomorrow morning, they wake up and we took that step (towards the playoffs)."

Central had eight penalties for 55 yards.

BURLINGTON CENTRAL 21, MARENGO 14

Marengo                 0     0    0    14   --  14

Burlington Central    0     7    7     7    --  21

BC – Kellenberger 27 pass from Maroder (Vincent kick), 1:41

BC – Westergaard 4 run (Vincent kick), 8:45

M – Carlson 12 run (kick failed), 10:15

BC – Llanes 18 run (Vincent kick), 7:56

M – Grimscheid 1 run (Gaines pass from Grimscheid), 2:51

Team statistics                MAR           BC

First downs                          11               11

Comp.-att-int.                    5-9-1          2-3-0

Passing yards                        67              39

Rushing-att-yds.                 39-160       44-247

Total yards                           227            286

Fumbles-lost                        1-0             1-0

Penalties-yards                    7-70           8-55

Individual statistics

Rushing:

MARENGO — Gaines 17-52, Carlson 11-57, Grimscheid 10-14, Lundquist 1-37.

BURLINGTON CENTRAL — Llanes 27-159, Westergaard 11-37, Maroder 6-51.

Passing:

MARENGO — Grimscheid 5-9-1 67.

BURLINGTON CENTRAL — Maroder 2-3-0 39.

Receiving:

MARENGO — Lundquist 2-31, Botzoc 1-28, Gaines 2-8.

BURLINGTON CENTRAL – Kellenberger 2-39.