Burlington Central had success in all three facets of the game Friday to spoil Harvard’s homecoming 21-9 at Dan Horne Field in both Big Northern Conference East action.
The Rockets (3-1, 2-0) struggled in the first quarter, failing to take advantage of good field position. Burlington Central was held off the scoreboard until running back Trevor Davison scored the first of his two touchdowns from 9 yards out with 46 seconds left in the first half.
Burlington Central would never look back. Thanks to a balanced Rockets attack on the ground and through the air Harvard (1-3, 0-1) would get no closer than five points.
The turning point came on special teams when senior Joe Breeden returned a punt 91 yards to increase the Rockets lead to 14-3. It appeared that Breeden was trying to get out of the way of the punt, but instead decided to return it.
“I originally wasn’t going to grab it, but I couldn’t really get out of the way,” said Breeden. “I got some great blocks and got by the defenders and it turned out to be a huge play.”
Senior Tyler Majewski put together a great game as he started once again for the injured Ryan Ritchie at quarterback for Central. Majewski finished 10-of-12 for 116 yards. Rockets coach Rich Crabel was pleased with Majewski’s play against the Hornets.
“Tyler was a lot more comfortable today and it showed in his play,” said Crabel. “We tried to give him a lot of plays he was comfortable with and he was able to execute.
“Tyler has started at quarterback going back to grade school. Even though he came in third on our depth chart this season, his experience is starting to show.”
Harvard was led by Sammy Soliz with 54 yards rushing and a touchdown.
BURLINGTON CENTRAL 21, HARVARD 9
Burlington Central 0 7 7 7 – 21
Harvard 3 0 0 6 — 9
H-Schneider 27 Field Goal, 10:04
BC-Davison 9 run (Matthews kick), 0:46
BC-Breeden 91 punt return (Matthews kick), 8:21
H-Soliz 1 run (pass failed), 8:29
BC-Davison 1 run (Matthews kick), 1:58
Team Stats Burlington Central Harvard
First Downs 11 7
Comp-Att-Int 10-12-0 10-15-1
Passing Yards 116 78
Rushing Att-Yards 32-112 27-69
Total Yards 228 147
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 0-0
Individual Statistics
Rushing
Burlington Central- Davison 14-64,Marino 12-55, Majewski 3-5, Garbarino 1-1, Matthews 1-0, Breeden 1- -13.
Harvard- Soliz 20-54, Kramer 5-14,Wheeler 1-1,Schneider 1-0.
Passing
Burlington Central-Majewski 10-12-0-116.
Harvard- Musgrove 9-13-1-72, Schneider 1-2-6.
Receiving
Burlington Central- Breeden 4-46, Rambo 1-16,Davison 1-7,Lopez 1-10,Garbarino 1-10,Napiorkowski 1-9,Fisher 1-18.
Harvard- Nolen 6-55, Mackenzie 2-16, Miller 1-6, Carrera 1-1.
