By Tim Peterson
(Pasadena) – Rio Hondo Prep ran for 321 yards and four touchdowns in a 43-0 rout of Maranatha Thursday night on the Minutemen home field.
The Kares were up 29-0 at the half and then scored again early in the third quarter. It was a running clock in the fourth.
The defense did its part as well intercepting Maranatha quarterback Cooper Berry three times- all in the first half.
Rio Hondo Prep got started right away with a touchdown on its first possession. The Kares scored on their first five possessions.
After Ethan Lo came up with a pick on Maranatha’s first possession. The Kares took over at their own 47 yard line. Five plays later Calogero Chico scored on a 17 yard run. Christian Lee than ran in the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.
Later in the first quarter Yanick Diaz hit a wide open Elias Har for a 25-yard touchdown to make it 15-0.
Maranatha’s offense continued to struggle in the second quarter while Rio kept on rolling. After the Kares stopped Maranatha on fourth down at the Rio Hondo Prep six yard line, Nathaniel Shine capped a 94-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown plunge.
The Kares added one more score before halftime. Diaz hit Rainn Pollock for 37 yards to set up to set up a one-yard touchdown run by Deven Gomez.
Rio Hondo Prep took the 29 – point lead into the half.
The Kares scored on a 15-yard pass from Diaz to Chico to open the third quarter and that was basically all she wrote.
Rio Hondo added a score late in the fourth quarter on a 36-yard run by Adrian Mendoza.
Gomez ran for 74 yards and a touchdown to lead the running attack. Shine had 65 and a touchdown and Chico ran for 57 yards and a score and also had a touchdown receiving. Diaz, running the show, threw for 129 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for 16 yards. The Kares had nine different players in the rushing column.
Berry threw for 221 yards for Maranatha but was hurt by the three interceptions. Lee and Tyler Dang had the other two picks for Rio Hondo Prep.
Nico Vergara had five catches for 74 yards as well for the Minutemen.
But this night belonged to the Rio Hondo Prep Kares. The Kares improved to 3-0 with the win while Maranatha fell to 2-1.
MAR 00 00 00 00 0
RHP 15 14 07 07 43
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Everyone should’ve known Maranatha didn’t stand a chance. When they play any team that can run the ball they pretty much cooked. Ever since SG ran all over them back in 2022, they still haven’t found a way to stop the run.
8 minute quarters ????????
Maybe the Kare Park 12u team
A run-based high school team (like RHP) is able to win the time-of-possession battle, and with 8-minute quarters, that is very significant. You can’t score if you don’t have the ball. None of this, incidentally, is showcased in those 7-vs-7 events.
I tried to tell you . No Noah , no problem ….
The divide between D9-10 and D13-14 is immense . This matchup has been hyped the last two years , and I can’t see Maranatha renewing the contract