Burlington Central clinches playoff berth

Updated: October 15, 2011 12:24AM

For the first time since 2007 Burlington Central is headed back to the playoffs after clinching a berth with a 49-7 win over visiting North Boone on Friday night in Big Northern East action.

Quarterback Ryan Ritchie threw four touchdowns and ran for another to lead the Rockets.

“It’s a good thing for our program,” said first-year Central coach Rich Crabel. “I feel especially good for our fourth-year seniors. They have been through some tough times the past few years, but they have hung in there and kept after it. They knew what was at stake and they were up for the game.”

After a slow start and a scoreless first quarter, the Rockets got rolling and exploded for four touchdowns in the second quarter. A fumble recovery by Nate Reed at the North Boone 14-yard line set up the Rockets’ first score. Three plays later, Ritchie hit Zach Ranney with a 10-yard touchdown pass to put the Rockets ahead 7-0.

The Rockets (6-2, 3-1) capitalized again on great field position on their next possession. A shanked North Boone punt gave Central the ball at the Vikings 39-yard line. Five plays later, Ritchie connected with Andrew Yardwood on a 17-yard touchdown toss. Joel Bouagnon ran in a two-point conversion to put Central up 14-0.

Bouagnon, the fourth-leading rusher in the area, added touchdown runs of 7 and 5 yards to give Central a 28-7 lead at the half. Bouagnon finished with 116 yards on 13 carries. That puts him over 900 yards on the season and he now has 10 touchdowns.

“We finally got it going on offense in the second quarter,” said Crabel. “I think we did a better job of mixing up the plays and the guys up front started firing off the ball. We always try to have a balanced attack. But I think the last few weeks we’ve become a little more dependant on the running game, so it was nice to see our passing game pick it up it again tonight. Ryan had a nice game throwing the ball and the guys up front gave him some time.”

Ritchie completed 11-of-21 passes for 147 yards. In the second half he added touchdown passes of 9 yards to Mikiel Thompson and a second touchdown to Ranney of 24 yards.

“We were a little off in the first quarter,” said Ritchie. “But my offensive line started doing a great job and I was able to get comfortable in the pocket and start making some plays. It’s an awesome feeling to know we are going to the playoffs. We really wanted to do this for the seniors on the team.’

The Rockets defense allowed North Boone to march inside the 5-yard line in the first quarter and gave up a second-quarter touchdown. But they held the Vikings spread offense in check the rest of the way. The Vikings (4-4, 1-3) managed just four first downs and 67 yards in the second half.

“We tried to do some different things by blitzing and stuff at the start of the game,” said Crabel. “But they did a nice job of picking it up. So we just stopped messing around with it and went back to what we do best and that is go after the football.”

Ranney finished with five receptions for 62 yards and also had a 63-yard option pass off a reverse.

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