Photos by Susan Coulter & game info & stats by Harry Joe
Football:
A few weeks before the 2022 season kicked off, this reporter met up with RHP coach Mark Carson, and his two-way star, Ryan McCulloch, at the Arcadia school.
Both Carson and McCulloch acknowledged the loss of several key players that graduated in 2022, and that instead of blowing teams out as they had been accustomed to, the Kares would be in a number of competitive games.
And if week one is any indication, they were right.
RHP took a nine-point lead into the half and claimed a 29-6 victory.
Don’t get this wrong, RHP won by a comfortable margin, it’s just not the 50-point blowouts that stacked up week after week in recent years.
McCulloch scored on TD runs of six and 43 yards.
McCulloch carried the ball 13 times for 178 yards, and that was four more than what nine El Monte backs combined to gain in Friday’s nonleague contest.
RHP had a 349-234 advantage in total offense, including a 293-174 disparity in rushing yards.
Noah Penunuri carried the ball 11 times for 79 yards, and he scored on a 2-point conversion run to give the Kares an 8-0 lead at 5:16 of the first quarter.
Anthony Hernandez scored on a 2-yard run to give RHP a 15-0 lead.
And Armando Carbajal capped the Kares scoring with a 3-yard TD run with 3:41 to play in the game.
Joshua Juarez led the El Monte rushing attack with 88 yards on 10 carries.
Saul Sanchez carried the ball eight times for 56 yards.
The Lions lone score came on a Jonathan Lopez 13-yard rushing TD halfway through the third quarter.
RHP had a 26-22 advantage (minutes) in the time of possession battle.
Nate Curtis had one catch for 29 yards.
Anthony Hernandez had two receptions for 27 yards, and he picked off a pass on defense.
Joshua Taflinger led the Kares with 7.5 tackles and that included an interception.
McCulloch had 6.5 tackles and he had both of RHP’s sacks.
Penunuri had six tackles to help secure win No. 1 for Rio Hondo Prep.
Up next: RHP will host Linfield Christian on Thursday night.
The Lions are 1-0 after a 41-7 victory over Loara.
And Linfield Christian will play tonight (Saturday, August 27th) against visiting Pacifica.
To view a six-pic photo gallery by Susan Coulter, click on the Facebook link here: Facebook
Quotable:
RHP coach, Mark Carson: “It was a good first win for a young team. Josh Taflinger set the tone with an interception, Anthony Hernandez also had a big pick. Our freshmen stood out. Penunuri, Gavia played both ways and were really good, and Ryan (McCulloch) was Ryan, making plays all over the field.”
Box Score:
EM: 0-0-6-0-(6)
RHP: 8-7-7-7-(29)
Scoring:
RHP: Ryan McCulloch 6 run (Noah Penunuri run)
RHP: Anthony Hernandez 2 run (Marco Chan kick)
EM: Jonathan Lopez 13 runs (run failed)
RHP: Ryan McCulloch 43 run (Marco Chan kick)
RHP: Armando Carbajal 3 run (Alex Mustain kick)
Records: El Monte (0-2); Rio Hondo Prep (1-0)
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