By Tim Peterson
(Arcadia) – The Rio Hondo Prep – El Rancho CIF Division 8 Second-Round playoff game Friday night has been moved to Arcadia High school to accommodate the expected large crowd.
It is a home game for Rio Hondo Prep and was initially scheduled to be played at Kare Park in Irwindale, but with it being a playoff game and the anticipation that both schools will be out in full force to support their teams, a decision was made to move it to the larger facility.
Rio Hondo Prep is 8-3 overall and is coming off of a win over Harvard-Westlake while El Rancho is 9-2 and beat Canyon last week. Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM.
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Here is my observation for tomorrow night’s big game:
1. The Ground Game: As we all know, El Rancho can run the ball, but Rio Hondo Prep is a team that prioritizes running over passing with a premier ground game that’s almost unstoppable. I remember last year when they played La Serna in the semifinals. All they did was run the ball with their powerful running backs. I’m not sure how many times they passed, but it was only a handful. As I said before, La Serna couldn’t stop their run attack, and they completely dominated the game.
2. The Weather Factor: Weather is going to be a massive factor tomorrow night, especially when you’re playing a powerhouse running team like Rio Hondo Prep. If you don’t realize how much bad weather favors a physical running team, you don’t know football.
3. The Uphill Battle: I know this will be a tough fight, but if El Rancho can somehow slow down their running game, the Dons can pull off the win.
We’ll see what happens tomorrow night. I’m hoping the Dons shock us all and get the victory.
Let’s Go Dons!
A lot depends upon the strength of the rain we’re expecting tomorrow. Unfortunately, the brunt of this wet spell we’re in for comes exactly on Friday evening. That means the rain could be heavy, which could very well make a sloppy mess of the whole affair. It’s not right to adhere to the schedule when Saturday, a drier day, is available. CIF already missed the mark by not placing these two teams in opposite ends of the bracket; compensation for that blunder requires a Saturday reschedule.
Believe it or not, but the rain helps a passing team…why?…because Receivers have a predetermined route. They know where they are going, DBs have to react and therefor they are more apt to lose their footing… I do understand that the ball needs to get there…which could be a problem.
My first thought when I saw this game was too bad it’s a quarterfinal game and not at least a semi final game. Then I go to thinking about it, it would make sense for CIF to get rid of the traditional bracket as a whole and reseed each round.
Think about, the rankings and divisions change weekly anyway, might as well do it in the playoffs too. The rankings changed and Segerstrom is no longer the highest rated team in D-8. Keep the same 16 team pools but just reseed them after every round to ensure competitive games. So if that happened in D-8 the quarter final games would be….
#1 Rio Hondo Prep vs #8 Rancho Verde
#4 El Rancho vs #5 Fillmore
#3 Santiago vs 6 Segerstrom
#2 Bellflower vs #7 Santa Monica.
It would be a very easy thing to do and can save good games like this for the semi-finals or finals.
ER will also be without there best defensive player Hernandez who was ejected from last weeks game vs Canyon. That will be huge playing against the RHP juggernaut rushing attack.
Rain is very likely during the hours of tomorrow’s big game. This hurts ER’s passing attack, due to poor visibility and slippery surfaces. If the game can be moved to Arcadia to accommodate a bigger crowd, why can’t it also be moved to SATURDAY, when rain isn’t going to throw a wrench into the works? I’m not an advocate of either team, but I am in favor of playing such an important game under decent conditions.
I believe in the 90’s RHP played 8 man football on the campus
That facility you are talking about is no longer used for football games. RHP’s home facility is off the 605 and Arrow Highway is called Kare Park since 2017. As good a natural turf field but rather small stands.
Back in the 1990s, RHP was still playing 8-man with a smaller 100 yard (end line to end line) by 40 yards wide.
Since the move to 11-man, they’ve won seven CIF-SS titles, including the last three seasons and have played and defeated Arcadia, Temple City, Arroyo, Charter Oak, Schurr, La Serna and the like. They are among the best programs in the West SGV consistently.
Who does the rain help. The underdog or the favored.
My son went through the Kare Youth Program there back in the early 90’s. I couldn’t believe a high school team played there.
When we consider that this game, for all intents and purposes, is to establish the champions of division 8, this venue change is the only logical action. The Kares may play big, but their stadium is way too small.