A big thank you to Harry Joe for the stats & Tim Lunney for the photos
Football:
Rio Hondo Prep opened defense of its 2023 CIF-SS Division 9 championship on Saturday night at Kare Park.
On the very first play of the game, Elias Har picked off Francis Parker quarterback Daniel Gilmor to set the tone.
RHP cruised to a 55-28 victory over their visitors from La Jolla.
The Kares had a 459-252 advantage in total offense, including an edge of 327-168 on the ground.
Noah Penunuri had rushing TD’s of 6, 1 and 10 yards, and he caught a 7-yard TD pass from Yanick Diaz.
Penunuri rushed for 41 yards on seven carries.
Penunuri will need 17 yards this coming Saturday to join the 2000-yard club.
Caeden Holcomb led the RHP ground game with 76 yards on four carries, and that included a TD run of nine yards.
Nate Curtis carried the ball seven times for 62 yards, and he caught a 19-yard TD pass from Landry Johnson.
Nathaniel Shine had 37 yards rushing on five carries.
Yanick Diaz completed 4-of-8 for 90 yards, including a 48-yard TD pass to Calogero Chico just 65 seconds into the game.
Johnson was 3-of-4 for 42 yards and his second TD pass of the night was an 8-yard strike to Elias Har to close out the RHP scoring.
The news of the night had to be that the run-heavy Kares scored half of their eight TD’s through the air.
Avondré Kelley led all rushers with 140 yards on 23 carries for Francis Parker.
Kelley had TD runs of 29 and 15 yards.
What had to surprise everyone on the RHP sidelines and stands was that Francis Parker ran back two kickoffs for scores in a span of 3:33 of game time.
Troy Seto, Christian Lee and Adrian Mendoza had five tackles apiece to lead the Kares defense.
Well before opening defense as CIF-SS champions on Saturday night, the Kares players and staff were paid a lot of respect by a former RHP football player.
Sergeant Wally Ashby of the Arcadia Police Department is a 1993 Rio Hondo Prep grad, and a teammate with Kares’ head coach, Mark Carson.
Ashby told Carson that “the defending CIF champs deserve a police escort into their first game of the season,” and he asked, “what time are you leaving?”
The video in four parts is at the bottom of this story.
Up next: The Kares will travel to Pasadena Poly next Saturday morning at 11.
To view a photo gallery by Tim Lunney, click on the Facebook link here: Facebook
Quotable:
Rio Hondo Prep coach, Mark Carson: “Elias Har made a great interception on the first play of the game, and I thought that really set the tone for the night. Yanick Diaz did well keeping the ball moving and I liked how he got the ball to our different weapons. Noah Penunuri had a good night as well. Our defense was solid, but our kickoff coverage needs work. With all things considered, this was a good night.”
Box Score:
FP: 14-0-0-14-(28)
RHP: 27-14-7-7-(55)
Scoring:
R: Calogero Chico 48 pass from Yanick Diaz (Marco Chan kick)
R: Noah Penunuri 6 run (Marco Chan kick)
R: Noah Penunuri 7 pass from Yanick Diaz (kick failed)
F: KO Return (Winston Huber kick)
R: Noah Penunuri 1 run (Marco Chan kick)
F: KO Return (run failed)
R: Noah Penunuri 10 run (Marco Chan kick)
R: Caeden Holcomb 9 run (Marco Chan kick)
R: Nate Curtis 19 pass from Landry Johnson (Marco Chan kick)
F: Avondré Kelley 29 run (run failed)
F: Avondré Kelley 15 run (Daniel Gilmor run)
R: Elias Har 8 pass from Landry Johnson (Marco Chan kick)
Records: Francis Parker (0-1); Rio Hondo Prep (1-0)
Football: CIF-SS Semifinal Round Scores: Division 1: Mater Dei 36, Centennial Corona 7 St. John Bosco 20, Orange Lutheran 17 Division 2: Murrieta Valley 55, Oaks Christian 52 Newbury Park 20, Yorba Linda 14 Division 3: Edison 42, Vista Murrieta 14 Simi Valley 28, Loyola 25 Division 4: St. Bonaventure 20, Apple Valley 13 Pacifica […]
Girls Water Polo: West Covina is one victory away today from having a four-win week. The Bulldogs have defeated La Mirada (15-13), Pasadena (10-5) and Cerritos (15-4) on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. Deneli Salazar continued her dominant week with eight goals. Meagan Harris chipped in with three goals. Marisa Lemus had quite the game […]
Girls Basketball: La Salle improved to 2-0 after its 52-26 victory at Keppel. The Lancers pulled away in the second quarter after outscoring the Aztecs, 15-0. Aislin Tamez Torres had a game-high 18 points. Casey Higgins chipped in with 14 points. Kaden Cortes and Julianne Tan provided six points apiece in Thursday’s win. Alyssa Canizal […]
Photo by Underrated Media Girls Basketball: Los Osos and Flintridge Prep met up Thursday night at the Bonita Tip-Off challenge. The win would earn a spot in Saturday’s title game. And it was the Wolves that secured a championship game appearance with a 52-45 victory over the Grizzlies. Maddie Smith had a game-high 19 points […]
Girls Water Polo: West Covina picked up their third victory of the 2024-25 season in four tries. After a 9-2 loss to San Dimas in the season opener, the Bulldogs have now defeated Monrovia (17-13), La Mirada (15-13) and Pasadena (10-5). Deneli Salazar led the charge with five goals and four steals, continuing her streak […]
Girls Basketball: It’s unusual for a game to be considered ‘over’ after eight minutes of play. However, politically correct or not, Glendora put Anaheim away with a 22-0 first quarter. The Tartans cruised to a 57-26 victory at the La Mirada Tournament. Reagan (“Ronnie”) Herrmann had a game-high 17 points. Kamryn Kuo led both teams […]
Photo by Angeline Sabillon-Cifuentes Boys Soccer: The Marshall Fundamental soccer program scored two first-half goals on Wednesday at La Canada. The Spartans scored a second-half goal, and both programs had to settle for a 2-2 tie. Giovanni Retana had an unassisted goal for the Eagles. Justin Lopez-Perez scored off an assist from Retana. Angel Capistran […]
Boys Basketball: Damien is off to a great start in the 2024-25 season. The Spartans have now defeated Troy (80-41), Ontario Christian (68-39) and Villa Park (70-42) at the Sunny Hills Tournament by a combined margin of 218-122. DHS had a 38-19 lead at the half. Nate Garcia had a game-high 21 points. Jayden Avina […]
Photo by Underrated Media Girls Basketball: Flintridge Prep jumped on Claremont early, and the Wolfpack weren’t able to mount much of a challenge. The Wolves had a 20-3 lead after the first eight minutes, and they cruised to a 69-35 victory in the second round of the Bonita Tournament. Maddie Smith and Megan Quoch led […]
