Game info by Harry Joe & photos by Tim Lunney
Football:
Rio Hondo Prep entered its week-five showdown as a 19-point underdog at Torrance in a battle of undefeated programs.
Calpreps, the site that CIF-SS uses (rankings) to formulate its first-round playoff pairings, gave the Kares an 18-percent chance of heading home to Arcadia with a win.
Torrance eventually secured a 28-21 victory at Zamperini Stadium, but not before RHP gave the Tartars everything they could handle.
Vaughn Reinert’s 2-yard TD run with 11:53 to play turned out to be the difference.
Torrance initially looked like a double-digit favorite, as Malikai Johnson scored on a 76-yard TD run just 19 seconds into the game.
RHP, however, didn’t blink, and 20 seconds later, Noah Penunuri answered with a 67-yard TD run.
Penunuri’s 2-point conversion run came up short, and THS led, 7-6.
The Kares took a 13-7 lead when Caeden Holcomb rumbled in from three yards out.
And keep in mind, the game was less than three minutes old.
But the Tartars went on to score 21 of the final 29 points to hold off RHP.
Gibson Turner tossed 26-and-11-yard TD passes to Jake Silverman and Issac Mora, respectively.
Turner finished 7 of 14 for 133 yards and the two scores.
Johnson carried the ball 14 times for 141 yards and one TD.
Silverman led the Tartars receiving corps with 97 receiving yards on three catches.
Penunuri rushed for a game-high 160 yards on 22 carries.
And that included TD runs on 67 and 2 yards.
The RHP junior is now eighth all-time after passing Mike Whiteside on his first carry.
Whiteside, a 1992 graduate and teammate of head coach, Mark Carson, finished his career with 2,360 rushing yards.
Penunuri also converted on the 2-point run after his second TD run late in the third quarter.
The Kares had advantages in total offense (375-326), rushing (269-193) and a 12-minute edge in the time of possession battle.
Yanick Diaz completed 8 of 20 for 106 yards.
Diaz tossed an interception as did Nate Curtis on his one attempt.
Curtis did gain 61 yards on eight carries, and the RHP senior caught a pair of passes for 48 yards.
Holcomb gained 32 yards on seven carries and the one TD.
Penunuri caught two passes for 20 yards and Elias Har had one reception for 23 yards.
Tyler Dang led the RHP defense with six tackles, while Rainn Pollock had five and Elijah Gavia tallied four tackles.
Up next: The Kares will travel 360 miles to Sunnyvale next Friday at 7 to battle King’s Academy.
The Knights (1-3) dropped a 27-6 decision to Palo Alto in a week-five contest.
To view some photos by Tim Lunney, click on the Facebook link here: Facebook
To view a second photo gallery by Tim Lunney, click on the Facebook link here: Facebook
Thanks to David Guerrero for this video highlight reel:
Box Score:
R: 13-0-8-0-(21)
T: 14-7-0-7-(28)
Scoring:
T: Malikai Johnson 76 run (Carlos Hudgins kick)
R: Noah Penunuri 67 run (run failed)
R: Caeden Holcomb 3 run (Marco Chan kick)
T: Jake Silverman 26 pass from Gibson Turner (Carlos Hudgins kick)
T: Issac Mora 11 pass from Gibson Turner (Carlos Hudgins kick)
R: Noah Penunuri 2 run (Noah Penunuri run)
T: Vaughn Reinert 2 run (Carlos Hudgins kick)
Records: Rio Hondo Prep (5-1); Torrance (5-0)
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