By Tim Peterson
(Irwindale) – Rio Hondo Prep burned the last eight minutes and 17 seconds off the clock and went on to beat St. Margaret’s 28-26 Friday night in the first round of the Division 9 CIF Playoffs.
St. Margaret’s scored with 8:17 left on a 16-yard pass from Max Ruff to Luke Newmann on a ball that was deflected by a Rio Hondo Prep defender. The Tartans missed the two-point conversion leaving then two points down.
The Kares got the ball and never gave it back. They pounded the ball down the field moving it down to the St. Margaret’s 26. The Tartans had already burned all of their timeouts in the third quarter and the Kares were able to take knees once they got a first down with under two minutes left.
The Kares only threw the ball three times all night as Alex Mustain completed two of three passes for 24 yards. Other than that it was all ground and pound. Noah Penunuri led the way with 165 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries. Nate Curtis rushed for 126 yards on 21 carries. Caeden Holcomb added 73 yards on 16 carries as the Kares piled up 367 yards on the ground overall.
While Rio Hondo Prep used long drives, St. Margaret’s struck with quick, big plays. The Tartans scored on their first possession when Russel Frye hauled in a 16-yard pass from Max Ruff for a 7-0 lead.
The Kares tied it early in the second quarter on a 17-yard run by Penunuri to cap a seven-play, 65-yard drive.
St. Margaret’s needed just three plays to go 59 yards. Ruff hit Will Viola for a 19-yard score to take a 14-7 lead.
Rio Hondo Prep then burned nearly nine minutes off of the clock marching 80 yards on 16 plays. Penunuri went the last yard to tie it at 14 with seven seconds left in the first half.
Tied at 14, RHP went right to work in the third quarter. This time the Kares drove 66 yards on 14 plays. Curtis finished it with a one-yard blast.
The Tartans answered immediately. Maverick Young (cool name) hauled in a 35-yard touchdown pass from Ruff. But the extra point was missed leaving the score 21-20 with 3:54 left in the third quarter.
The Kares answered early in the fourth when Penunuri picked up his third score of the night on a 15-yard TD scamper to make it 28-20.
St. Margaret’s got the touchdown pass from Ruff to Newmann with over eight minutes left to get within two but they never got the ball back and the Kares were able to ice it.
Ruff completed 15 of 22 for 245 yards and four touchdowns for the Tartans but it wasn’t enough as their season comes to an end.
Meanwhile for Rio Hondo Prep, it’s march and advance to the second round.
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