Jackson Alcorn’s 4 TDs power Burlington Central to first playoff win in 18 years

BURLINGTON – Seeking its first playoff victory in 18 years, things couldn’t have started much better for Burlington Central on Nov. 2.

The host Rockets scored on their first four possessions to lead 28-0 at halftime before cruising to a 42-14 win over Grant in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.

The Rockets (8-2) will travel to Geneva (9-1) for a second-round game at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Central quarterback Jackson Alcorn accounted for four touchdowns, including two scoring strikes to L.J. Kerr.

Zach Samaan ran for two scores for Central.

Tyler Zdon ran for 113 yards and a score for Grant (6-4). Matthew Gipson and Max Hembrey connected on a long touchdown pass for the Bulldogs.

Alcorn was extremely efficient on the night, completing 8 of 10 passes for 184 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for a score for the Rockets, whose last playoff appearance had been in 2014.

“That was one of my personal goals at the beginning of the season is being the quarterback to lead this program into a playoff berth for however long it’s been,” Alcorn said. “And then to come out and win this game and know we’re going to move on to the next round, it just feels amazing.”

Grant rode a four-game winning streak to its second straight playoff appearance but couldn’t overcome a sloppy first half that included two lost fumbles and key penalties. Zdon and the offense finally were able to sustain some drives in the second half.

“We got a couple on the board and hopefully built some momentum for next year,” Grant coach Tim Norwood said. “We’ve got nine guys coming back on defense and eight on offense. For us, we obviously wanted to do better than we did, but we got some experience hopefully going forward for the program.”

The Rockets’ defense made Alcorn’s life easier by forcing three turnovers and giving the offense a short field each time. Matt Bending’s fumble recovery led to Central’s first touchdown on a 17-yard drive. Tyler McGladdery pounced on another Bulldogs fumble and Rocco Boss’ interception led to the Rockets’ final score.

“That’s something we’ve done all year,” Central coach Brian Iossi said. “I think our turnover differential is plus-16 or something ridiculous like that. We don’t turn the ball over very much and we force a lot of turnovers, so obviously those are huge. Our kids were opportunistic in those and made them count and made them pay for it.”

Alcorn connected on touchdown passes of 23 and 65 yards to Kerr and 30 yards to Chase Powrozek.

The Rockets’ running back committee combined for 145 yards. Jack Aguirre wound up as Central’s leading rusher with 46 yards as four backs had at least 25 yards.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20241102/prep-football/alcorns-4-touchdowns-lead-burlington-central-over-grant-in-class-6a-playoff-opener/