Continuity never hurts on the football field, and Burlington Central has had plenty of it with seniors Bryan Bell, Jason Shallcross and Jason Wagner the past three years.
The trio of three-year varsity contributors are at or near the impressive total of 30 varsity games started in their respective careers.
In terms of high school football, such longevity makes Bell, Shallcross and Wagner grizzled veterans. The experience should come in handy when the Rockets travel to Morris to make their Class 5A playoff debut at 7 p.m. Friday.
"I expect them to be our leaders come Friday night," Central coach Aaron Wichman said. "Instead of being in awe of being down in Morris and being up in 5A for the first time, I would expect those guys to come out and lead us through and hold true to what we expect."
That Wichman should have such high expectations for the trio comes as no surprise. He said all three caught the coaching staff's attention during the summer before their sophomore seasons, and they all lived up to the early hype.
For the past three seasons Bell has been a mainstay on the defensive line, Shallcross a fixture on the offensive line and Wagner a major contributor on offense, defense and special teams. All three players earned All-Big Northern Conference East Division honors.
"In the summer we talk about incoming sophomores that might be able to help us (on varsity), and sometimes we bring guys up by positional need instead of whether they are the best athletes," Wichman said. "With those three guys, they definitely filled a position, but they were also good athletes."
Wagner's success is the easiest to quantify thanks to his role as a wing back in Central's option attack. He's run for more than 1,000 yards and scored 18 touchdowns in his career. He's also been a three-year starter at linebacker and handled the Rockets' kicking duties.
Wagner was off to a strong start this season until an injury derailed his progress. In Week 6 he sprained his right ankle and also chipped a bone in that ankle against Richmond-Burton.
He missed Central's next two games and played sparingly in last week's season finale, but he's expected to be in action Friday.
"(The injury) has been one of the toughest things I've been through," Wagner said. "Ever since the start of the season I expected big things for our team and for me as a player. Having this setback was really hard."
There's been no such setback for Bell, who starts at defensive end and earned Courier News first-team All-Area honors last year. He's been among Central's leading tacklers each of the past two years and anchors a defensive unit that is holding opponents to 16.6 points and 250.3 yards per game this season.
Despite the relative success, he knows he and his teammates face a tough task against Morris, which has won seven games in a row and averages 300 yards per game.
"Everyone will have to do their job," Bell said. "As long as everyone does what they are told, we'll be fine. It's all about knowing your assignments."
Shallcross moved to a new position this year, but that hasn't stopped him from boosting a productive offensive line. The unit has paved the way for a rushing attack that averages 269.9 yards per game and 6.5 yards per carry.
Shallcross went from being the starting center last season to being Central's starting right guard this year, but said the transition was seamless.
"The move to guard to guard has been easy," Shallcross said. "It's actually like center, but you just don't have to snap the ball."
Shallcross' varsity career officially began when he was called up as a freshman to be a scout team member for Central's 2004 postseason run. He saw playing time in the Rockets' season-ending loss to Montini in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs that year as a reserve.
That experience combined with Central's run to the Class 4A quarterfinals last year should prove invaluable for Shallcross, Bell and Wagner this week.
"The playoffs are a different atmosphere in and of itself because everyone is faster, there is a lot more dedication and everyone is putting everything on the line," Shallcross said. "The more experience you have, the more things seem to slow down.
"You're just not as intimidated by the whole atmosphere if you've been through it."
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