No. 4 Richmond-Burton hands Sandwich first loss

RICHMOND – For many in attendance, Sandwich came into Friday night as a bit of an enigma.

That wasn’t the case for Richmond-Burton coach Mike Noll. He remembered what he saw two years at the freshman/sophomore level and knew he had to have the Rockets well prepared for Friday night’s Kishwaukee River/Interstate Eight Blue Divison contest.

Richmond-Burton looked ready and then some in cruising to a 49-7 victory over the Indians.

Sandwich, which did not field a varsity program last year due to low numbers, came into the game as one of the state’s feel-good stories at 3-0.

That story hit a tough chapter against the fourth-ranked team in the Associated Press Class 4A poll. The Rockets (4-0, 2-0 KRC/I-8 Blue) dominated up front behind the offensive line of Adam Schuler, Mitch Kelly, Jake Quentrall-Quazada, Logan Garcia, right tackle Patrick Willin and tight end Luke Bresnahan. They rushed for 327 yards – 7.4 yards per carry.

“Two years ago when we played them they gave us a really good game at the freshman/sophomore level,” Noll said. “And you watch the first three games and what I told our kids all week is they really run their offense well, they’re really fast, and they’ve got some good linemen. They’re a decent team.”

The Indians (3-1, 1-1) even came out with a bit of a head of steam, picking up two first downs and 29 yards on their first six plays to move into Richmond-Burton territory. But a critical false start penalty on third down killed the momentum, something Sandwich never seemed to get back.

Meanwhile, the Rockets never gave up their momentum, scoring on all seven of their drives. Fullback Braxtin Nellessen was the main cog in the backfield, carrying the ball 19 times for 147 yards and two touchdowns. Ryan Saranzak had two touchdowns and 47 yards rushing while Jack Martens (57 yards rushing) and Isaac Jones (18 yards rushing) also scored in the running game.

Quarterback JT Groh and Max Loveall connected twice for scores through the air as Richmond-Burton tallied 383 yards of offense.

“(The offensive line) did a really good job of just finishing their blocks, getting people off their feet,” Nellessen said. “They’re an amazing offensive line.

“We just executed and did what we do.”

Sandwich’s offense was bottled up until Simeion Harris busted a 67-yard run in the fourth quarter. That set up a one-yard touchdown run from Nick Michalek.

Harris finished just shy of 100 yards with 99 yards on 10 carries.

“We’re going to use this as a learning experience,” Sandwich coach Kris Cassie said. “No excuses. We have to get better at a lot to match a team like that. They’re state-ranked and you can certainly see why. Credit to coach Noll and their program. They did an outstanding job tonight.”