Burlington Central senior Zach Hultgren, at 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds, knows not to get in the way of Rockets quarterback Landon Arnold.

Arnold (6-2, 220 pounds) likes to run people over as much as he likes to chuck it downfield.

“He’s a big guy. I lift with him in the offseason, so I can attest to his strength,” said Hultgren, who plays both offense and defense. “He’s tough. He’s just hard to stop.”

Arnold didn’t complete a pass in messy conditions Saturday against Harlem at Rocket Hill in Burlington.

Instead, Central’s senior quarterback showcased his tough downhill running to lead the second-seeded Rockets to a 24-14 win over the seventh-seeded Huskies in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs.

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Burlington Central’s Tyler McGladdery reacts after scoring his second of two touchdowns against Harlem in IHSA football Class 6A second-round playoff action at Central High School in Burlington on Saturday, November 8, 2025. (Patrick Kunzer for Shaw Local/Patrick Kunzer for Shaw Local)

No play, though, was bigger than Arnold’s 56-yard burst on the first play of a new possession after Harlem had just cut Central’s lead 17-14 with 5:36 left.

Arnold broke free for the game’s longest play and didn’t stop until he was chased down by four Huskies defenders to the Harlem 24-yard line. The tough-minded quarterback didn’t give up the ball at any point on the drive – running seven times for 80 yards and finishing the drive off with a 3-yard TD run with 2:17 left on the clock.

The score all but put the game away and sent the Rockets to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2006. Central (10-1) advances to play No. 11 Fenwick (8-3) on the road next week.

“With the weather, we were just trying to keep minimal exchanges as we could,” said coach Brian Iossi, whose Rockets reached 10 wins for the first time in 19 years.

“He wants the ball, he wants to finish with it.”

So much, in fact, that Arnold changed a play call during the 80-yard TD drive.

“He wants it on his back,” Iossi said. “Actually one of the last play calls wasn’t even for him, and he changed it in the huddle just because he knew trying to hand the football off is probably not [smart] ... and I trust him to make that decision.”

Arnold said he didn’t remember making a change, but if he did it worked out anyway.

“I saw green grass,” Arnold said of his 56-yard run. “I thought I was gone, but it’s all right, we finished that drive together. Couldn’t do it without my O-line. That was awesome.”

Arnold ran for a game-high 134 yards on 19 carries in the steady rain. Senior Tyler McGladdery ran for 50 yards on 10 carries, including the Rockets’ first two touchdowns of 3 and 8 yards.

McGladdery’s second score gave Central a 17-7 lead with 2:13 remaining in the third quarter.

Central stopped Harlem on its next possession, with junior Ben Hultgren making a tackle on third-and-6, and Matthew Bending and Noah Hedlund teaming up to stop running back La’darrius Foster for no gain on fourth-and-4.

Central then went three and out, and Harlem drove the field. Huskies QB Braxton Fausett, on third-and-7, completed a short pass to tight end Finn Stovall, who ran it in to complete a 21-yard TD and cut the Rockets’ lead to 17-14 with 5:36 left.

Arnold then broke free for his game-changing, 56-yard run.

Hunter Deering ran for 41 yards on 12 attempts, and Parker Auxier, who also plays in the defensive backfield, had 37 yards on eight carries. As a team, Central for 277 yards on 51 carries. It threw the ball only three times (all incompletions).

Senior kicker Max Gemelli kicked a 31-yard field goal at the halftime buzzer to put the Rockets up 10-7.

After the win, Central players raced back to the locker room warm up – and celebrate.

“Very chilly,” Zach Hultgren said of the conditions. “Your hands start to get numb, so it’s kind of hard to feel around. We just started pounding the rock. That’s our big offensive goal, just a lot of big run plays.”

Last year’s Rockets earned their first playoff berth in 10 years and won their first postseason game since 2006.

This year’s team has bigger plans.

“This year, I made a promise to the seniors that we’d take it farther [than last year’s second-round loss to Geneva], and I’m very proud of what we were able to do tonight,” Zach Hultgren said.

Iossi said this year’s team has come a long way.

“These guys weren’t even alive when we got here last,” Iossi said. “I think it’s huge. This group went 1-8 their freshman year. They were not a good football team.

“For them to buy into what we’re doing and put the work in to get here is crazy awesome.”