Bouncing back: Antonio Brown forgets fumble, runs for 294 yards and 4 TDs as Jacobs beats Burlington Central. ‘He’s a tough, tough kid.’
Antonio Brown #AntonioBrown
Although senior running back Antonio Brown helped Jacobs get off to a fast start Friday night at Burlington Central, things changed late in the second quarter.
Brown coughed up a fumble, which the Rockets converted into a field goal. Burlington Central also added a touchdown in the closing seconds of the first half.
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The Golden Eagles suddenly trailed by three at halftime.
“That fumble really made me think, ‘Why?’” Brown said. “I came off like, ‘Why did that happen? What do I have to do to not fumble?’
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“It brought me down, but my teammates and coaches brought me back up.”
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And Brown brought Jacobs right back. He ran for 294 yards and four TDs on 20 carries to lead the Golden Eagles to a 35-30 Fox Valley Conference victory on the road.
Jacobs coach Brian Zimmerman didn’t allow Brown any time to sulk.
“I looked at him and said, ‘You have to keep your head up because I’m going to keep feeding you the ball,’” Zimmerman said. “He finds holes, but he’s just so hard to bring down.
“He’s a tough, tough kid. I’m super proud of him. Anything we ask him to do, he does. He blocks for his counterparts.”
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Brown broke a 63-yard run on the first play of the game for Jacobs (5-1, 5-1). Two plays later, he delivered a 5-yard TD run. He added a 36-yard TD run to push the lead to 14-0.
Burlington Central (2-4, 2-4) cut the deficit to 14-7 in the second quarter on a 1-yard TD run by Deryious Smith. Brown then fumbled with 2:20 left in the first half.
After another turnover by Jacobs, Jackson Alcorn hit Michael Person for a 15-yard TD with two seconds left in the first half to give the Rockets a 17-14 lead.
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“We were definitely overconfident,” Brown said. “I think we got too settled in with having the lead. Coach always mentions all gas, no brakes.
“I felt like we put the brakes on.”
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In the second half, Brown went back to work. His two TD runs in the third quarter gave the Golden Eagles the lead for good. He broke several tackles on a 68-yard TD run and had an 8-yard TD run.
Burlington Cental coach Brian Iossi lamented how the Rockets were outscored a combined 28-0 in the first and third quarters.
“Coming out at the beginning of the game and coming out of the half seem to be our Achilles’ heel,” Iossi said. “We come out in the second and fourth quarters and we’re just as good as any team in the conference.”
Backup quarterback Riley Bergemann kept the Rockets within striking distance.
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Bergemann had a 2-yard TD run and a 6-yard TD pass to Caden West that brought Burlington Central within 35-30 with 1:22 left, but the Rockets never got the ball back.
“I’m happy with how our guys battled and fought,” Iossi said. “It’s hard to get mad at all. You just have to keep battling and fighting, and that’s what our guys did.”
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For Burlington Central, Alcorn passed for 114 yards and Michael Ganziano rushed for 56.
Joey Scrivani ran for 151 yards and a TD for Jacobs, which finished with 463 yards rushing. The Golden Eagles also turned the ball over three times and had 17 penalties for 149 yards.
Still, Jacobs put last week’s 37-20 loss to Huntley behind them and became playoff eligible.
“At least we got the win, but we still have a lot of stuff to work on,” Brown said. “All the penalties come the playoffs, that’s not going to fly.
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“We have to clean it up. I know we’re going to get chewed out in practice this week.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.