Thanks to Harry Joe for stats, Tim Lunney for the photos & David Guerrero for the video highlights
Editor’s Note: Please check back on Friday night for a photo gallery
Football:
It was anything but a typical Thursday night for the Rio Hondo Prep football program.
The Kares were without their leader in head coach Mark Carson, and for the second week in a row, their star running back Noah Penunuri was in street clothes.
Carson fell ill and will spend at least the night at a local hospital, but the good news is that doctors have ruled out worst-case scenarios for the SGV area’s most successful football coach.
And while Penunuri is getting closer to returning from a helmet to the ribs in week zero, the two-time 210 Prep Sports Football Player of the Year spent the game with headphones on and contributed as a member of RHP’s coaching staff.
Rio Hondo Prep took a 29-0 lead into the half at Maranatha, and they cruised to a 43-0 victory over the Minutemen.
MHS was also without a number of key injured players.
The Minutemen had a couple opportunities to score in the red zone, but the Kares kept them out of the end zone both times.
RHP had statistical advantages in rushing yards (304-68), total offense (433-272), first downs (19-13) and one less penalty (5) for 27 less yards.
Last week in a 49-7 victory over Artesia, quarterback Cooper Berry threw for north of 300 yards and six TDs.
On Thursday, Berry completed 15-of-30 for 204 yards.
He did not find the end zone, and the star junior was picked off three times (Christian Lee, Ethan Lo & Tyler Dang).
RHP’s Yanick Diaz completed all five of his pass attempts for 129 yards.
And that included a 25-yard TD pass to Elias Har in the first quarter, and a 15-yard scoring strike to Calogero Chico to give the Kares a 36-0 lead with just over a minute gone by in the second half.
Deven Gomez had a game-high 98 yards rushing on nine carries, including a 1-yard TD run towards the end of the first half.
Calogero Chico had a 17-yard TD run at the 8:20 mark of the first quarter to get RHP on the board.
He finished with 52 yards on just two carries.
Tyler Dang caught two passes for 52 yards, and Rainn Pollock caught a 37-yard pass from Diaz.
Bradley Loiacono and Nico Vergara led the Maranatha receiving corps.
Loiacono had two receptions for a game-high 77 yards, and Vergara had a game-best five catches for 76 yards.
Blake O’Brien had three catches for 38 yards in the loss.
Nathaniel Shine gained 48 yards on seven carries, and he gave Rio Hondo Prep a 22-0 lead with a 1-yard TD run.
Adrian Mendoza got called up from the JV team and his first touch resulted in a 36-yard TD run with 3:07 to play.
Maranatha actually had a seven-minute edge in the time of possession battle.
Up next: The Minutemen travel to San Marino on Thursday, and the Kares will host Marquez on Friday.
Coach Carson answered my request for a quote from his hospital room.
It goes without saying that everyone sends their best to a far better person than he is a football coach, Mark Carson.
Quotable:
RHP coach, Mark Carson: “I had full confidence in our players and coaches that they’d get it done tonight. Randy is our associate head coach, and he did a great job rallying the coaches and players this week. It was surreal watching a game live and not being there. It’s the first Rio game I’ve missed in over 25 years. I want to thank everyone in the Rio community and those outside it for their love, support and prayers. God willing I’ll be back next week. Ed Drain did a great job calling the defense for the first time at the varsity level, and all the other assistants were on point as well – JT Parker, AJ Corsini, Dave Drain, Will Torrico, Rocky Seto, Jack Van Cleve and Edwin Ixta. We have a great staff.”
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Box Score:
RHP: 15-14-7-7-(43)
MHS: 0-0-0-0-(0)
Scoring:
R: Calogero Chico 17 run (Christian Lee run)
R: Elias Har 25 pass from Yanick Diaz (Easton Jara kick)
R: Nathaniel Shine 1 run (Easton Jara kick)
R: Deven Gomez 1 run (Easton Jara kick)
R: Calogero Chico 15 pass from Yanick Diaz (Jace Frary kick)
R: Adrian Mendoza 36 run (Jace Frary kick)
Records: Rio Hondo Prep (3-0); Maranatha (2-1)
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