Prep Football: Murphysboro takes down Harrisburg

Clay Rendleman ran for 194 yards and four touchdowns on Friday night to lead the Murphysboro Red Devils to a convincing 42-7 victory over visiting Harrisburg at Doc Bencini Field.

Rendleman, a 5-foot-9, 190-pound junior, had scoring runs of 19 yards and one yard in the first half as Murphysboro built a 29-0 halftime lead and then cruised in the second half to its first victory over the Bulldogs since 1995.

"I'm looking at how they are playing us and I'm thinking why are we running jet sweep when we can pound Rendleman inside,'' Murphysboro coach Gary Carter said of his fullback. "He's a workhorse and a phenomenal kid. He's a load. He's strong and fast."

Rendleman opened the scoring at the 8:57 mark of the first quarter with his 19-yard run. He also ran in the two-point conversion to give Murphysboro (5-2, 3-1 SIRR Ohio Division) an 8-0 advantage.

After forcing Harrisburg to punt on its first possession of the contest, the Red Devils took over on their own 31-yard line and marched down the field, with Rendleman capping off the drive with a 1-yard TD run. Aaron Wyatt then ran in the two-point conversion to make it 16-0 with 3:30 remaining in the opening period.

Murphysboro struck again early in the second quarter following an interception by DaShon Battles, which he returned 41 yards to the Harrisburg 19-yard line.

On the first play after the interception, Marshall Grammer hauled in a 19-yard touchdown pass from Braden Miller to give the Red Devils a 23-0 lead.

Murphysboro capped off the first half scoring with 34 seconds left in the second period when Austin Hoppenstedt raced into the end zone from six yards out to make it 29-0.

Murphysboro allowed just 78 yards of offense in the first half, while the offense moved the ball almost at will. About the only thing the Red Devils did wrong in the first 24 minutes of play was put the football on the ground a couple of times.

"We came out and put the ball on the ground and lost one of them, and you can't do that,'' Carter said. "I know it was the (weather) conditions, but you've got to learn to play in that. Harrisburg didn't do that."

Rendleman would strike again midway through the third quarter when he found the end zone from three yards out to give Murphysboro a 35-0 lead.

Harrisburg then ate up almost seven minutes off of the clock before turning the ball over on downs at the Murphysboro 46-yard line. Rendleman would find the end zone again six plays later, this time from 10 yards out, to make it 42-0 with 8:06 left in the game.

With the continuous clock running, the Bulldogs got an 11-yard scoring run from Jake McGowan with 4:25 remaining in the contest to close out the scoring.

Harrisburg finished the game with 187 yards of offense and just six first downs. Kane Carrigan led the way for the Bulldogs, rushing for 74 yards on 17 carries. McGowan also had 17 carries and finished with 63 yards.

The Red Devils finished with 307 yards of offense. Hoppenstedt was their second-leading rusher on the night, gaining 58 yards on six carries.

With the win, Murphysboro matched its victory total from 2013. The Red Devils can now clinch their first playoff birth since 1996 with a win at Benton next week.

"We got win number five, and that was the goal this week,'' Carter said. "Next week it's about being guaranteed a playoff spot."

1ST

M -- Rendleman 19 run (Rendleman run) 8:57

M -- Rendleman 1 run (Wyatt run) 3:30

2ND

M -- Grammer 19 pass from Miller (Baird kick) 9:00

M -- Hoppenstedt 6 run (kick failed) :34

3RD

M -- Rendleman 3 run (kick failed) 6:06

4TH

M -- Rendleman 10 run (Baird kick) 8:06

H -- McGowan 11 run (Owen kick) 4:25

H M

1st downs 6 14

Rushing 45-170 38-282

Passing 1-5-1--17 3-7-0--25

Fumbles 0-0 3-1

Penalties 5-57 8-65

RUSHING -- Harrisburg: McGowan 5-10, Carrigan 17-74, Marler 17-63, Hicks 4-19, Lowry 1-2, Vallette 1-2. Murphysboro: Rendleman 18-194, Hoppenstedt 6-58, Toliver 2-8, Pulcher 3-19, Battles 2-18, B.Graeff 1-3, Barnes 1-3, C.Graeff 1-(-1), Miller 4-(-20).

PASSING -- Harrisburg: Vallette 1-5-1--17. Murphysboro: Miller 3-7-0--25.

RECEIVING -- Harrisburg: McGowan 1-17. Murphysboro: Grammer 1-19, Battles 1-9, Toliver 1-(-3).