Richmond-Burton rolls past Marengo for 20th consecutive win

RICHMOND – Richmond-Burton senior Jacob Petersen succinctly stated what everyone on his football team was thinking.

“It kind of (stinks) that we didn’t get to play for state, but we feel like we would have won state again,” said Petersen, the Rockets tight end-defensive end. “We would have had a good run, going back-to-back, leave our senior year like that. But it’s nice to be 20-0.”

The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on high school sports, forcing the IHSA to adjust its scheduled with abbreviated seasons for winter sports and three of the usual fall sports, one being football.

The Rockets did all they could. R-B really got rolling late in the first half and defeated Marengo, 50-7, Friday night in their final game of the six-week season.

[ PHOTO GALLERY: Richmond-Burton beats Marengo in KRC action ]

R-B tacked a 6-0 onto last year’s perfect Class 4A state championship season to finish as one of three teams in the state with 20 consecutive victories. Class 8A champion Lincoln-Way East and Class 3A champ Williamsville are the other two.

“It’s hard to keep your heads up and have goals when you’re playing for nothing,” quarterback Jacob Huber said. “That’s what it seems like. But it’s a great group of guys and an incredible football coach (Mike Noll) around here. We just want to leave our legacy.”

Fifteen minutes after the game, after celebrating on the field and taking pictures with teammates, family members and friends, the Rockets were screaming above loud music pumping from their locker room.

Another perfect season was worth something.

“I’m so proud of these kids,” Noll said. “They handled this season well. Our kids hung in there (through the pandemic) and continued to work hard the whole time. We’ve really improved the last couple of weeks. Tonight showed how good we can be. Marengo’s a good team.”

The Indians (4-2) were good enough to take a lead on R-B, something that had not been done since the 2018 Class 4A semifinals when eventual state champion IC Catholic beat the Rockets, 28-9.

Quarterback Josh Holst scrambled early in the game’s first drive and wide receiver Michael Jennett made a tough grab over an R-B defender for a 31-yard gain. Holst capped that drive with a 24-yard touchown run.

Indians defensive back Mitch Kunde picked off Huber on the next series, but Marengo fumbled back to R-B.

The game remained tight until late in the second quarter. Marengo drove to R-B’s 1 and had fourth-and-goal, but false started. The Indians’ field goal attempt sailed wide right.

From that point, it was all R-B.

Fullback Brock Wood (17 carries, 165 yards, three touchdowns) finished that drive with a 24-yard scoring run. R-B’s defense held and Huber hit Petersen with a 43-yard touchdown pass with 56 seconds remaining in the half.

Huber was 5 of 7 passing for 102 yards with three touchdowns, all in the first half.

“I thought I overthrew it, but (Petersen) is pretty long and he’s gotten a lot faster,” Huber said. “He got under it. It was sweet. Those were a big 4 minutes. When you get a couple touchdowns like that, it’s really demoralizing for the other team.”

R-B scored to start the second half on Wood’s 6-yard run, making it 36-7.

“We came down and scored, that’s a really good thing,” Marengo coach Paul Forsythe said. “It was mistake-free and our kids made some plays. We were happy with that.

“We just made a lot of mistakes (after that), a lot of penalties. That was a big swing before the half. We could have tied it if we scored and went for two, then they go score and it’s 22-7.”

Holst had to leave the game in the third quarter with a knee injury that Forsythe did not think was serious. Kunde moved from running back to finish at quarterback.

Running back Rey Guajardo ran for 100 yards and Nick Legnaioli finished with 65 yards.

Huber, Legnaioli and Luke Eckardt, who starts on both lines, have been three-year starters, and Petersen played a lot as a sophomore.

“Those kids,” Noll said, “have been on a semifinal (team), a state champ and a 6-0 team. They’ve made quite a run. We work hard. The kids have bought in and we have some great football players. The kids played great tonight.”

Richmond-Burton 50, Marengo 7

Marengo 7 0 0 0 – 7

Richmond-Burton 8 21 7 14 – 50

First quarter

M–Holst 24 run (Slavin kick), 9:15.

RB–Petersen 35 pass from Huber (kick failed), 4:15.

RB–Safety, punt snap rolled out of end zone, 2:35.

Second quarter

RB–Minzey 8 pass from Huber (Legnaioli kick), 10:34.

RB–Wood 24 run (Legnaioli kick), 3:43.

RB–Petersen 43 pass from Huber (Legnaioli kick), 0:56.

Third quarter

RB–Wood 6 run (Legnaioli kick), 7:32.

Fourth quarter

RB–Wood 29 run (Legnaioli kick), 11:41.

RB–Siegel 7 run (Legnaioli kick) 7:34.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Marengo: Kunde 25-55, Holst 6-40, Stolz 2-4, Jennett 1-5. Totals: 34-104. Richmond-Burton: Wood 17-165, Guajardo 13-100, Legnaioli 9-65, Siegel 6-30, Heaney 1-2, Team 1-minus 1. Totals: 47-361.

PASSING–Marengo: Holst 8-14-0-121, Kunde 2-4-0-3. Richmond-Burton: Huber 5-7-1-102.

RECEIVING–Marengo: Mirtl 5-57, Davis 2-23, Jennett 1-31, Kunde 1-13, J. Heinberg 1-0. Richmond-Burton: Petersen 3-88, Minzey1-8, Guajardo 1-6.

TOTAL TEAM YARDS–Richmond-Burton 463, Marengo 228.