BELVIDERE — Tiras Harris had the kind of game most fantasy football owners would drool over.
The Belvidere senior running back rushed 35 times for 315 yards and scored four touchdowns as the Bucs hung on to beat Rockford Jefferson 45-41 Friday night at Funderburg Stadium.
Harris scored four times on runs of 5, 11, 12 and 12 yards. He had 14 carries of 10 or more yards on the night.
He flirted with Belvidere’s all-time single-game rushing record, which is held by John Grubb, who had 353 yards in a game back in 1962.
BELVIDERE – If Belvidere thought it could expose some weaknesses in Boylan, which played without starting quarterback Zach Lane on Friday, the Titans needed just one quarter to change that.
After a close first half, the Titans scored five touchdowns in the third quarter enroute to a 49-9 NIC-10 football victory against the Bucs at Funderburg Stadium.
Will Sahlstrom started things for the Titans in the second half when he scored on a 48-yard run to make it 21-7.
BELVIDERE – It was a game Belvidere desperately needed to win. It was a game that the Bucs almost let slip away.
Belvidere saw a three-touchdown lead in the second half nearly disappear as Rockford East, behind quarterback Michael Dye, mounted a comeback. But an interception by the Bucs’ David Gamboa midway through the fourth quarter thwarted a potential game-tying score as the Bucs hung on for a 27-20 win Friday night at Funderburg Stadium.
FREEPORT — The Freeport Homecoming crowd roared as Wes Gastel crossed the goal line in the waning moments of Freeport’s 37-28 win over Belvidere.
Gastel returned a Belvidere onside kick try 48 yards for a touchdown with 2:14 to play.
Gastel extended the Pretzels lead to nine when he caught the onside kick on a high bounce and had a clear path to end zone.
“I thought about just dropping because of the time situation,” Gastel said. “I just didn’t want to risk not getting the first if there wasn’t enough time.”
BELVIDERE – Rockford Guilford and Belvidere came into Friday night both desperate for its first win of the season.
The Vikings, expected by some to contend for the NIC-10 title, was last in the conference in scoring, having been outscored 63-6 in the first two games. Belvidere has made the playoffs the past seven years, but the Bucs have also had a rough start to the season.
Thanks to the return of five starters and a beefed up rushing attack, Guilford finally got that elusive first win with a 31-0 win over Belvidere on a sloppy field at Funderburg Stadium.
BELVIDERE — Belvidere coach Matt Weckler knows his team has its work cut out for it this season. But the goal remains the same for the Bucs: win at least five games and reach the playoffs.
Thanks to the split with Belvidere North a year ago, Belvidere has just 32 players on its varsity roster. That’s a drastic change from last year’s team, which made it to the third round of the playoffs with a deep and talented team that included 58 players. Still, Weckler isn’t expecting any less this time.
