By Tim Peterson
(Arcadia) – Rio Hondo Prep rushed for 313 yards and five touchdowns in a 43-16 rout of Warren Friday night to win the CIF Division 7 Championship at Arcadia High School. The Kares have now won back-to-back CIF titles after winning in Division 9 last year.
Noah Penunuri ran for 220 of those yards and three touchdowns while Caeden Holcomb rushed for 69 yards and a score. Nate Curtis added 17 yards and another touchdown on the ground.
The Kares, already leading 15-10, broke Warren’s spirit in the third quarter. They took the kickoff to open the quarter and chewed up nearly nine minutes off the clock driving 80- yards on 17 plays for a touchdown. Curtis Penunuri finished the march with a 15-yard run to put Rio Hondo Prep up 22-10 with 3:18 left in the third.
The Kares then recovered an onside kick and were immediately in business again. When the third quarter ended Rio Hondo had the ball at the Warren 21-yard line. The Bears never touched the ball in the quarter.
On the first play of the fourth quarter Penunuri went the final 21 yards for his third score of the night to make it 29-10 and although the game wasn’t over Warren looked like a beaten and broken team.
Warren quarterback Jamar Malone II fumbled on the next possession and Rio Hondo Prep recovered at its own 39. Holcomb capped this scoring march with a one-yard run and suddenly it was 36-10 with 4:06 left and that was the old ballgame.
The Bears added a quick score on a four-yard touchdown run by Malone with 2:23 left but on an onside kick Holcomb grabbed it and rumbled 50 yards for a touchdown to account for the final score.
A close game in the first half and well into the third quarter ended up looking like a rout.
Rio Hondo Prep led 15-10 at halftime. Penunuri and Curtis both scored on four-yard runs to finish drives. Penunuri’s score and his two-point conversion run put the Kares up 8-3.
Warren actually got on the board first on a 25-yard field goal by John Jaimes. The Bears also took a 10-8 lead on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Malone to Skylar Lendsey.
The Kares then came out and took control in the third quarter and went on to win their second straight title. As has been the motive throughout the season their offense is based on the running attack. The Kares threw only one pass in the game. It was incomplete.
Malone threw for 205 yards and a touchdown for Warren but it wasn’t nearly enough. The Bears finished the season with an overall record of 6-8.
The Kares now can boast about consecutive CIF titles and an overall record this year of 12-1. They will now wait to see who their opponent will be in the State playoffs.
Anonymous,
The Kares would also crush Northview. Warren has a student body close to 4k, while RHP has, what, less than a handful of hundred kids, this includes the Pearl Prep school…
@someone
Yes you said it yourself, most kids come up from the Kare Youth League. These kids have been playing together for years before they got to high school. Hello!!! It’s a private school.
@ SoCal
You have no clue regarding RHP.
Most of the kids who attend came up through the Kare Yoth League program as did all the coaching staff, except Rocky Seto. Even the medical staff is alumni.
You won’t find anything else like RHP.
It’s a private school, they play by different rules. Hello!
I would love to see RHP play against a team like Northview!
Hahaha How many transfers did that Warren team have? All these parents pulling their kids to go play for this program just to get beat by a school with 70 boys that does it the right way. As a parent I can not understand why you would want your son to play for a program like that when there are great coaches everywhere
My misunderstanding. I thought you were referring to Warren. Their QB can zip it and the RB is tough but RHP is on another level when it comes to toughness and discipline. Those kids don’t quite! RHP definitely setup for next year with #31 coming back. QB needs work if they want any chance at throwing the ball
Don’t cut the mustard really they just run two consecutive CIF championships! And not one of their players is a transfer all you have to do is look on the CIF website! Not one kid a transfer! You do know that Rio Hondo Prep has 120 kids at the school!
Well they didn’t cut the mustard this season. Better luck next year. Are these guys homegrown or transfers?
From what I was reading on Maxpreps the quarterback is just a junior and so is there top running back! This team could even be better next year!
That’s right!
The slingshot still works, David downs Goliatlh again!
Warren never saw a possession in the third quarter. Masterful clock management.
Looks like Tim’s infatuation with RHP is justified. This is a true football dynasty, like La Serna was until last evening’s abrupt collapse.