Richmond-Burton stays unbeaten in KRC/I-8 Blue with win over Harvard

RICHMOND – Richmond-Burton running back Jack Martens sensed the need to make something happen after winless Harvard had scored first against the fifth-ranked team in The Associated Press Class 4A poll.

“We were getting beat. We called the 49 Sweep, and I just had to make a play,” Martens said. “I’m the playmaker on the team, me and Max [Loveall]. I knew I had to make a play and give us some energy, get the fans going. It was wide open, I just had to go.”

Martens raced around right end untouched for a 65-yard run, which started the Rockets on their way to a 48-13 victory Thursday night in their Kishwaukee River/Interstate 8 Blue Division game.

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Richmond-Burton's Braxtin Nellessen congratulates Richmond-Burton's Luke Rendtorff (right) after Rendtorff returned an interception for a touchdown during a Kishwaukee River Conference football game on Thursday, Oct.12, 2023, at Richmond-Burton High School. (Gregory Shaver/Gregory Shaver )

R-B (7-1, 5-0) allowed Harvard (0-8, 0-5) to lead for only 11 seconds. Linebacker Luke Rendtorff added another touchdown 49 seconds later when he picked off a pass at the Harvard 25 and ran it in.

It was the second of three Rendtorff interceptions.

“I’m more like a fill guy, but I was in the right place at the right time,” Rendtorff said. “I was reading the quarterback a lot and staying in my zone, across the middle. It worked out pretty well.”

Rendtorff thanked linebacker Jeff Lehn and linemen Owen Wisniewski, Logan Garcia and AJ Horcher for putting pressure on Hornets quarterback Adam Cooke.

Rendtorff picked off Cooke at the goal line on Harvard’s first series, but R-B lost a fumble on its first series, which set up Harvard on R-B’s 32. Cooke hit Christian Mercado for a 16-yard gain, then ran it in from the 3.

“We didn’t do that last week against Plano,” Hornets coach Brad Swanson said. “We got off the bus a little slow, and we talked about that all week. Get off that bus ready to play football. It’s a playoff team. Enjoy it, get better, and we did. I’m proud of the guys, we just made a few too many mistakes in the first half.”

R-B grabbed a 41-6 lead by halftime, with Martens and Braxtin Nellessen running for touchdowns and quarterback JT Groh hitting Luke Bresnahan and Max Loveall for passing touchdowns.

“We weren’t ready to play,” Rockets coach Mike Noll said. “We did not have a good three days of preparation, that’s my fault. We weren’t ready to play. Give them credit, they got off to a good start.”

Garcia recovered a fumble to set up Groh’s 17-yard scoring pass to Bresnahan, then Rendtorff got his third pick to set up the drive when Groh connected with Loveall.

“That [pass coverage] is not Luke’s forte,” Noll said. “But right place at the right time, he almost had four. He’s had a good senior season, he’s played really solid for us. We got pressure and close to sacking him. Luke did a nice job there.”

Martens finished with 106 yards on three carries. Harvard had a highlight in the second quarter when wide receiver Danny Rosas caught a 76-yard pass from Cooke.

Cooke finished with 57 rushing yards and scored on a 27-yard run in the fourth quarter.

“We’ve been saying all season it’s all about us,” Swanson said. “We do our jobs, we concentrate on Harvard. It doesn’t matter who lines up against us, we do our thing correctly. We’re trying to work on the process and get better every week.

“Adam Cooke is a first-year player and he keeps getting better every week. Once he gets going, then we can throw the ball a little bit, we can run the ball a little bit. Our linemen are getting better. We’re taking baby steps and enjoying the process.”

Richmond-Burton 48, Harvard 13

Harvard 6 0 0 7 – 13

Richmond-Burton 14 27 7 6 – 48

First quarter

H–Cooke 3 run (kick blocked), 4:55.

RB–Martens 65 run (Lehn kick), 4:44.

RB–Rendtorff 25 interception return (Lehn kick), 3:55.

Second quarter

RB–Martens 28 run (Lehn kick), 11:52.

RB–Nellessen 3 run (Lehn kick), 5:45.

RB–Bresnahan 17 pass from Groh (Lehn kick), 2:33.

RB–Loveall 10 pass from Groh (kick failed), 1:08.

Third quarter

RB–Johnson 9 run (Lehn kick), 5:23.

Fourth quarter

H–Cooke 27 run (D. Rosas kick), 7:13.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Harvard: Cooke 13-57, Livdahl 7-4, D. Rosas 1-3, Rosales 3-3. Totals: 23-72. Richmond-Burton: Martens 3-106, Johnson 12-86, Nellessen 11-62, Busa 8-33, Groh 2-10, Hile 2-3, Carley 1-minus 2, Team 2-minus 2. Totals: 42-296.

PASSING–Harvard: Cooke 8-22-3-126. Richmond-Burton: Groh 4-5-0-72.

RECEIVING–Harvard: D. Rosas 3-80, Mercado 3-33, Rosales 1-7, Nulle 1-2. Richmond-Burton: Loveall 3-55, Bresnahan 1-17.

TOTAL TEAM YARDS–Richmond-Burton 368, Harvard 198.