Rockets find winning formula against Vikings

BURLINGTON -- After starting the season 0-4, Burlington Central coach Aaron Wichman told his team all week that the Rockets' Big Northern Conference East Division opener Friday night was a chance to start over.

Central did exactly that, beating up on North Boone 41-14, thanks to solid defense and touchdowns from five different players. Tim Botsford highlighted the offensive eruption by throwing three touchdown passes.

"We really stepped it up this week in practice and got a big win," said Botsford, who made his first start of the season at quarterback in place of Tim Maroder. "Tommy (Gast) and Jeremy (Lee) both had big games. It's nice having people behind you to take pressure off."

Lee and Gast combined for 107 yards of total offense and five scores -- one of which was an 11-yard halfback pass from Gast to Kevin Kellish to put the Rockets (1-4, 1-0) up 21-0 with 19 seconds left in the first half.

"We have some backs that can do some good things for us," Wichman said. "I think they ran hard. Jeremy Lee had some nice runs and some nice catches out of the backfield. I thought Tommy Gast ran pretty hard."

The Rockets put the game out of reach in the first half, allowing the Vikings (2-3, 0-1) just five total yards and no first downs. North Boone's lone points came in a span of 1:08 in the fourth quarter.

Central's biggest lead was 29-0 in the final period.

Botsford connected on TD passes of 16 and 21 yards to Lee in the first half. The junior also hooked up with Gast for a 37-yard scoring strike. Botsford completed 5 of 6 passes for 100 yards.

Gast also scored on a 1-yard run.

The Rockets' Nick Smith had a 48-yard TD run with 2:18 left to go in the game to close out the scoring.

Central's defense also played a large role in the victory.

"We had a couple turnovers there in the second half, but I think defensively we played pretty well," Wichman said. "We have 11 guys on defense that are really starting to play well with each other and are starting to develop some cohesiveness.

"We're taking steps every week to become a better defensive unit."