Burlington Central scores 24 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to beat Huntley

HUNTLEY – Burlington Central quarterback Jackson Alcorn is admittedly prone to turning the ball over.

Not on Friday nights in games, mind you. Rather, in practice.

Props go to his defensive teammates.

“I think it’s one of the best secondary groups I’ve seen these past four years,” said Alcorn, who hasn’t turned over the ball once this season while directing the Rockets’ high-scoring offense. “Our whole defense is just so complete, it’s unreal.”

Central showed again Friday night that it’s for real. The Rockets’ best season in a decade continued against Huntley, as they scored 24 unanswered points in the fourth quarter en route to a 31-7 win in the Fox Valley Conference teams’ regular-season finale.

It was Central’s first win over Huntley since the Rockets left the Kishwaukee River Conference and joined the FVC in 2019 (0-5 record).

Central (7-2, 7-2) clinched its first playoff berth since 2014 last week. Huntley (5-4, 5-4) likely will earn an at-large berth into the state playoffs. The IHSA will announce the first-round pairings Saturday night.

“Our defense has played out of their minds all year,” Rockets coach Brian Iossi said. “And it’s a young group. There’s a good mix of seniors, juniors and a couple of sophomores.”

One of those sophomores, defensive back Parker Auxier, helped turn the momentum in the Rockets’ favor late in the third quarter with the score tied 7-7. Huntley QB Braylon Bower, who was limited to 6-of-13 passing for 59 yards and 47 rushing yards, completed a pass near midfield, but the ball was fumbled.

Auxier recovered the ball at the Central 44. The drive stalled at the Huntley 2, but David McCoy’s 24-yard field goal with 10:46 left in the fourth amounted to what were the deciding points.

“It was more like a team effort,” Auxier said of his fumble recovery. “I think we all wrapped on, and I picked it up. We just all swarmed to the ball.”

Auxier then intercepted a deflected pass on Huntley’s next possession. Central drove from the Huntley 46 to the 2, only to face fourth-and-goal. The Rockets then got creative, calling a double-reverse pass. Chase Powrozek hit a wide-open Alcorn in the end zone, and it was 17-7 with 7:47 left.

Alcorn said the team put in the double-reverse pass at the end of practice Thursday.

“We ran it twice and we were like, ‘You know what?’ This is going to be money,’ ” Alcorn said. “It’s all [coach Iossi]. He drew that one up. I had no idea it was coming until he gave me the signal.”

Central’s defense kept coming. It’s group that also includes LJ Kerr, Liam Ballantyne, Michael Schmidt, Sam Maglares, Ben Hultgren, Zach Samaan and McKade Naus.

Naus recovered a fumble on Huntley’s ensuing possession at the Red Raiders’ 25, and three plays later Alcorn threw a 10-yard TD pass to Caden West to up Central’s lead to 24-7.

Naus then blocked a punt, which led to speedy senior Zane Pollack’s 3-yard TD run. The 5-foot-6 Pollack, a baseball player who’s playing football for the first time, rushed for 116 yards on 20 carries.

“He’s an animal,” Iossi said.

Alcorn finished 13-of-23 passing for 133 yards and, yes, no turnovers.

“I think it was after our first game – and we played pretty well against [Cary-Grove, a 27-3 loss],” said Iossi, whose team allowed only 123 points during the regular season. “Jackson looks at me and says, ‘Is this why I throw a lot of picks [in practice]? Are they really good?’ I said, ‘Yes, I think you’re seeing one of the best defenses in the conference every day at practice.’ ”

Auxier agrees and has learned from his veteran defensive teammates.

“I’ve learned from them to never take your moments for granted because we’re probably not going to have another season like this for the Rockets,” Auxier said. “It doesn’t really happen much. You just got to give it your best shot.”

Short TD runs by Central’s Zach Samaan (4 yards, second quarter) and Bower (1-yard sneak, third quarter) had the score tied 7-7 after three. Huntley had scored 158 points in its last four games.