Matt Montez and the Rio Hondo Prep Kares check in at number 6. Big game with El Rancho this week. (Photo by Duane Barker).
With several teams being eliminated we decided to post a Top 12 of the teams still alive in the playoffs. La Serna, Baldwin Park and Charter Oak all had wins to lead the charge.
1. La Serna – Lancers offense shines in first round win over Valencia.
2. Baldwin Park – Braves survive, advance.
3. Charter Oak – Chargers face tough second round game at Agoura.
4. Downey – Vikings knock off Newbury Park in Division 4; Cajon next.
5. Nogales – Nobles just keep on trucking.
6. Rio Hondo Prep – Kares looking good in Division 8.
7. El Rancho – Second round matchup with Rio Hondo Prep looks like the Game of the Week.
8. St. Francis – Golden Knights have warmed up at the right time.
9. Muir – Mustangs doing this without their starting quarterback.
10. La Mirada – Matadores are home in D-7 second round.
11. San Marino – Titans come up with a tough road win over Colton.
12. West Covina – Bulldogs jump into Top 12 with one-point win over Western Christian.
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@Statboy,
I had a good laugh when I read your post.
But this isn’t last year.
This year, La Serna would beat Rio Hondo Prep & El Rancho by 40.
They are both in Div 8 this year for a reason.
I see El Rancho winning this one by 10.
Rio Hondo Prep is going to demolish El Rancho. The Dons haven’t played anyone to RHP’s caliber. Rio Hondo should be in a higher division but they had a difficult non league schedule with a tough loss to Division 3 opponent, Quartz Hills, in Lancaster and a close loss to Bay Area Power Kings Academy (3 D1 WRs.) SGV player of the year candidate, Christian Lee and the RHP line will hang another CIF SS banner. Book it.
Does Rio Hondo Prep have a fan base? For a top program with 4 straight CIF titles I saw some footage of their playoff opener and the stands looked very empty. They will clobber El Rancho but El Rancho still will fill up the visitors side and half the home side. They did that at far away Portola two years ago at a big stadium.
From T. Peterson: Not sure what footage you saw but the stands were packed. The Rio Hondo Prep faithful are out in force every home game. ER fans might not have room on the RHP side. It will be full but they can sit on the visitor’s side. The only problem is there’s not much room over there. The game may be moved to a different location to accommodate everybody. I’ll post it on the site if there’s a change.
This week’s ER-RHP tilt will be decided by whether or not the Dons’ defense can throttle RHP’s potent running attack. If that happens, then ER’s offense will have time to score the go-ahead points. It’s really that simple.
Keeping top team lists after playoffs just make no sense to me. I get you guys like to rank for debate and stuff but it just doesn’t make sense. You got great teams not on this list just cuz they lost to great teams in a tough division compared to the other schools on here playing cupcakes in the first round. Not knocking the schools who are in here that’s awesome they won but I just don’t agree with it.
From T. Peterson: These are the teams that are still alive in the playoffs. What wouldn’t make sense is to rank teams that are no longer playing. Their seasons are over. There’s no way to move up or down.
Can we all agree that Rio Hondo Prep shouldn’t be playing in CIF Division 8 while being the heavy favorites to win it all? It looks like the CIF wants to hand them another championship. Rio should be playing in D6 or D5 at a minimum. Heck, I think Baldwin Park would give them a run for their money.
Furthermore, for anyone who thinks Rio would beat LS, just remember what LS did to Baldwin Park this season with that 55–7 blowout.
When you have a power running offense like Rio Hondo Prep, you can control the tempo and pull out wins, just like they did against LS last year when our defense couldn’t get a stop. But this year’s LS team is a completely different story. We’ve got a much stronger, more experienced defense, and our running and passing games are far more dynamic. With our QB’s ability to explode for 40+ yard plays through the air and on the ground (as shown in last week’s win over Valencia), I think LS would easily take the win if we were playing Rio Hondo this time around.
IMO Rio Hondo Prep is #1 until they lose a CIF SS playoff game. In my deep dive into RHP stats they smartly been resting players in preperation for the playoffs. If they played La Serna Friday I would bet on RHP and give 6 points.