Pictured L-R: Nate Curtis, Ronnie Lott & Ivan Tkach
Football:
What a potentially great weekend that is in-store for the Rio Hondo Prep football program.
The Kares left Arcadia and made the 362-mile drive north to Sunnyvale, and they’ll spend the next three nights in Northern California.
On Friday, Rio Hondo Prep expects to bounce back from their first loss of the season (28-21 at Torrance) when they battle King’s Academy.
The Knights (1-3) enter tonight on a two-game losing streak, and they’ve been outscored, 92-77.
For what it’s worth, Calpreps projects RHP to secure a 40-21 victory, and they give the Kares an 88-percent chance of prevailing.
Through their first six games, Rio Hondo Prep has outscored its opponents by a combined margin of 294-114.
On Thursday night, RHP got the thrill of a lifetime for any football player or coach.
Not only did their former teammate and current Cal linebacker, Ryan McCulloch, speak to the Kares at their hotel, so did one of the greatest players in NFL history, Ronnie Lott.
Lott, 65, went to USC, and he’s a friend of RHP assistant coach, Rocky Seto.
During his remarkable 14-year NFL career, Lott won Super Bowls for the San Francisco 49ers in 1982, 1985, 1989 and 1990.
He also played one year each for the Los Angeles Raiders (1991-92) and the New York Jets (1993-94).
After collecting 1,146 career tackles, 63 interceptions, including five pick-sixes, recovering 17 fumbles and tallying 8.5 sacks, the 1981 Rookie of the Year runner-up (to Lawrence Taylor) was inducted into the 2000 National Football League’s Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
If that isn’t cool enough, RHP will be in attendance to watch McCulloch, who is tied for eighth in tackles for the Bears, take on eighth-ranked Miami of Florida on Saturday night in Berkeley.
The Hurricanes (5-0) enter the game as 11-point favorites.
It’s scheduled to air on ESPN at 7:30.
Quotable:
RHP coach, Mark Carson: “It was an incredible night for our young men that they won’t soon forget. We can’t thank Ronnie and Ryan enough for taking the time to visit with us. They shared both words of wisdom and inspiration. Ronnie’s final exhortation to the team – “exhaust every moment.”
2024 Rio Hondo Prep Schedule & Results:
8/24: RHP 55, Francis Parker 28
8/31: RHP 65, Poly 19
9/7: RHP 56, Maranatha 14
9/13: RHP 53, Marquez 19
9/20: RHP 44, Bellflower 6
9/27: Torrance 28, RHP 21
10/4: RHP at King’s Academy
10/11: Bye Week
10/18: Viewpoint at RHP
10/25: Brentwood at RHP
11/1: No Game Scheduled
RHP Stat Leaders:
Quarterbacks:
Yanick Diaz: 19-of-32 for 408 yards, 8 TD’s & 2 INT’s
Landry Johnson: 7-of-9 for 95 yards, 3 TD’s & O INT’s
Running Backs:
Noah Penunuri: 25-for-363 & 7 TD’s
Caeden Holcomb: 24-for-278 & 5 TD’s
Nate Curtis: 18-for-245 & 3 TD’s
Nathaniel Shine: 15-for-218 & 4 TD’s
Receivers:
Nate Curtis: 7-for-149 & 3 TD’s
Noah Penunuri: 5-for-103 & 2 TD’s
Calogero Chico: 2-for-65 & 2 TD’s
Tyler Dang: 4-for-62 & 1 TD
Rainn Pollock: 2-for-45 & 1 TD
Tackles:
Caeden Holcomb: 22
Christian Lee: 20
Andy Xu: 18
Josh Curtis: 14
Ivan Tkach: 14
Adrian Mendoza: 13
Noah Penunuri: 12
Zach Burl: 11
Rainn Pollock: 10
Nathaniel Shine: 10
Sacks:
Josh Curtis: 1
Calogero Chico: 1
Nathaniel Shine: 1
Caeden Holcomb: 1
Zach Burl: 1
Interceptions:
Rainn Pollock: 3
Elijah Gavia: 1
Andy Xu: 1
Josh Curtis: 1
Nate Curtis: 1
Elias Har: 1
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