Kaneland wears down BC

Kaneland and Burlington Central find themselves in a very similar position after the opening week of the 2008 football season.

For the fourth straight season, the Knights opened the year by defeating the Rockets, this time with a 31-7 victory on Rocket Hill.

Kaneland (1-0) once again used its spread offense, opened up the field and scored 28 straight points after Central (0-1) took a 7-3 lead on Nick Smith's 11-yard touchdown run with 6:43 left in the first half.

"It was a little bit of a slow start," said Kaneland sophomore quarterback Joe Camiliere, who went 17-for-25 for 228 yards and 2 touchdowns. "We started moving the ball. The line was doing great. The receivers were making some great catches."

Camiliere hooked up with Taylor Andrews for a 20-yard scoring pas s with 1:42 left in the first half to put Kaneland up 10-7.

Ryan Bailey picked off Central's Tim Maroder for the second time on the Rockets' opening possession of the second half to set up Camiliere's second bomb, a 29-yard pass to Blake Serpa. A botched snap on the extra point put Kaneland up 16-7.

"We played defense for quite a while tonight," Central coach Aaron Wichman said. "We fought hard on defense. Some guys made plays. We just got wore down."

Central's defense took some major blows as two starters left the game. Defensive end Artur Kirik left the game and later the stadium with crutches, which starting safety Bob Timm was carted out in a wheelchair.

Timm's injury came after Serpa (10 rushes, 27 yards, 5 receptions, 85 yards) put Kaneland up 22-7 with a 1-yard touchdown run. Timm was injured as Camiliere hooked up with Sam Payne for the 2-point conversions with 11:56 left to play.

Tyler Suerth slammed in a 5-yard run with 4:01 left to play and chris Ott's extra point made it 31-7. Ott connected on a 26-yard field goal with 1:48 left in the first period to put Kaneland ahead 3-0.

Smith led the ground attack for Central with 12 rushes for 40 yards, while Tommy Gast added 39 yards on 8 carries.