Elias Har scored the only touchdown for Rio Hondo Prep late in the fourth quarter. (Photo by Duane Barker).
By Tim Peterson
(Mission Viejo) – Rio Hondo Prep fell behind 14-3 halftime and could never bounce back in a 35-10 loss to Sonora Saturday in the CIF Division 2A Final at Saddleback College.
Already down by 11 Sonora opened it up in the third quarter scoring on two drives to make it 28-3 heading into the fourth. The Wildcats coasted from there.
Sonora drove 53 yards on seven plays on the first possession of the third. Tommy Sutton bulled in from the one-yard line to make it 21-3.
On the next possession, Steven Moorfoot intercepted Rio Hondo Prep’s Yanick Diaz and Sonora was in business again at the Rio Hondo Prep 39. The Cats took advantage quickly finding the endzone seven plays later on another Sutton blast-again from a yard out. It was 28-3 with 1:34 left in the third quarter and although the fat lady wasn’t singing yet she could be seen warming up on the far sideline.
In the fourth quarter the Wildcats added another score. After the Kares were stopped at their own 25-yard line Sonora used the short field for its final touchdown. Sutton capped the scoring with a 10-yard run- his third touchdown of the day.
Sonora got on the board first on its first possession. After Rio Hondo Prep punted on its first series the Wildcats marched 70 yards with Cash Byington scoring on an eight-yard run.
Rio Hondo Prep answered with a march down to the Sonora 10-yard line but the drive stalled there and Easton Jara booted a 27-yard field goal.
Sonora went up 14-3 with just over two minutes left in the second quarter when Brody Speer (cool name) got loose for a 67-yard touchdown run.
The Wildcats then took that lead into the second half, broke it open in the third quarter and went on to the victory.
The Kare did offer a murmur of protest late in the game when Diaz hit Elias Har for a 46-yard score for the final tally.
Rio Hondo Prep was held to 115 yards rushing with Christian Lee leading the way with 54 carries and Nathaniel Shine had 38 yards on seven tries. Noah Penunuri, who wasn’t 100 percent coming into the game, injured his ankle in the first half and finished with 12 yards on six carries. Diaz threw for 184 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions. Sonora’s Morfoot had both interceptions.
For Sonora Speer rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown on seven carries and Byington ran eight times for 93 yards and a score. Sutton scored three times and ran for 40 yards overall. Sonora racked up 310 yards on the ground. Quarterback Eli Ingalls ran for 59 on 14 attempts.
The Kares ended the season with an overall record of 15-1 and a CIF Division 5 Title under its belt. For Sonora it was its second straight State Championship and the Wildcats competed the season with a perfect record of 15-0.
S 7 7 14 7 35
R 3 0 0 7 10
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NOT possible Sonora could not come close to playing toe to toe with those teams
@DO,
You are very correct which is one of the many reasons why this system stinks!
A system that gives teams a better chance of a championship after a loss than after a win, is not a system that is one to follow.
The seeding is ranfom . What’s the difference between a two seed and a 15 seed ? Because that’s where they cut the pie . If a 15 seed were a little worse, if they lost a game that they won , they would be a top seed in the lower division with much better chance at success . You are correct in that the “ lineup” is not random and is well defined , but how this translates into seedlings, home and away games is just luck of the draw
Linear? most definitely.
Random? Not at all.
Unless you think the computer rankings are random, which is an entirely different convo. When it comes to seeding, the computer rating trumps record, AQ, league champ, etc. League championships are for an AQ and bragging rights only now. Not saying I like it; but it is pretty cut and dry.
@ Detached Observer: The way in which the divisions are drawn up was one of the things that I was alluding to. Yes, there is a pretty thin line but also a big difference between being the #16 seed in one division or the #1 seed in the next division down. (Or vice versa, which is what happened to Muir High this year.)
@FBF correct ! And everything beyond that is linear and random ….#2 seed can be at large as Pioneer in 2024?
@DO,
From the CIF playoff bulletin, there were 178 automatic qualifiers in the southern section. Divide that by 14 and you get 12.7 which means there was an average of 13 automatic qualifiers per division with 3 at larges.
2 things here,
1. a divisions top seed HAS to be an automatic qualifier.
2. Non AQ Teams with 5-5 records or higher will be considered as at larges before teams with losing records. However if there is still room after all at large teams with a .500 record or above have been placed in a division, then the highest rated at large team with a losing record will get in (see Upland in 25, Charter Oak in 22, PMA in 24, etc.). At larges with losing records seem to happen most in the middle divisions (D6-9) while it’s very unlikely for an at large to get in with a losing record from D10-D-14
@FBF …. Agree in great part with your commentary ; it’s a random system which then unintentionally rewards mediocrity. The only element where favoritism can come into play is where they draw divisional lines -,however , this is ia big difference between high seed ( home game ) in lower division vs low seed in higher division .
The randomness is problematic when league winners are dispatched on long road trip while wild cards get home games .
This all contributes to poor performance Section wide in State playoff system . Only the Open Division has a true and fair system , and things get increasingly skewed as we drop divisions . Open Division dominates No Cal.
Congratulations to all participants and acknowledge their accomplishments
That’s a joke, Trinity folk can come on here and tell you your division don’t matter either.
@ Ron Vrooman,
While I do not like the way the Southern Section does the new playoff format, one thing it cannot be accused of is favoritism. The only subjective thing that goes into it is the question of how many schools will be in D-1. Everything else is done by hsratings, league AQ’s, and the number of schools in that division pool. It’s pretty cut and dry. The number of schools in that division is why a school like Upland can go 2-8 and get in the playoffs while a lower division school such as Rim of the World can go 9-1 and miss the playoffs……
Is it a good system? Not at all!!! But it definitely isn’t a system based on favoritism.
@Tony Ortega
True. But that’s why I said the only team that won State from the area in a high level Div, like Div. 4/5 or better, which means with the way the State games are labeled =
Open = The best
1AA = D1
1A = D2
2AA = D3
2A = D4
3AA = D5
El Monte won State in 5AA,
which is equivalent to like Div 9/10.
It’s a whole different level of FB, playing in the top 5 Divisions, compared to the lower equity double digit divisions. But, El Monte had a great year that season, no doubt, for a lower division school.
@ Low Profile: You made a good point about CIF sections outside of ours which set up their playoff divisions ahead of the regular season. The way the Southern Section does it is far too ad hoc and subject to favoritism.
Our divisions should be organized beforehand, and any necessary adjustments can be made during the offseason every two or three years, let’s say. Then teams that struggle initially would have a chance to show whether they can become more competitive in their assigned division.
LS, actually, El Monte High School is the first school in the MidValley area to win a CIF
State Championship. Tim was that in 2019?
From T. Peterson: Yes. 2019.
@BB …. Funny that you complain about brackets when SEM gets top seed in weakest division after finishing 2nd or 3rd in woebegone MVL! Then getting paired up against D3 city team for Regional final !
The Southern Section postseason assignment of Divisions , I believe , has a lot to do with their poor performance in State finals . Many great teams go by the wayside early by playing on road in Divisions much higher than they were the year before or in last five years ; mediocre teams are awarded high seeds and play lesser competition throughout because good teams have been ruled out of that division , i. e, SEM
No Cal doesn’t do divisions retroactively
Enjoy your championship run which was essentially gifted by CIF ; don’t deplore the reality of playing a good team . I mean heaven forbid you would have to beat your league champ to win CIF …..
Rio was banged up , couldn’t convert on a couple early drives and faced a team of similar toughness , with better depth . They beat a number of good teams on the way … that’s football.
Shut up loser
The RHP-Sonora game was played in Mission Viejo. The big kids from the gold mining town should have simply played Mission Viejo! Balboa was way over the heads of SEM as well. Hard to believe this all happened by chance.
@ EM: I’m sure it was. I’ll bet your game was played on that Saturday in October which happened to be the day after a freak lightning storm caused the suspension of several Friday night games in the West San Gabriel Valley.
Most of the suspended games were completed the next day, although Alhambra’s home game against San Gabriel wasn’t resumed until the following Monday night. We did win, though, despite the additional two-day wait.
I really thought Rio Hondo Prep was going to join the 2023 La Serna team as the only other Mid Valley coverage area team to elevate its play enough to win a State Title in one of the top 4 or 5 divisions since they went to this playoff system in 2016, but it was not to be.
It looked like they were ready to take the next step, like LS 2 years ago, so it was pretty surprising to see RHP to fail to win state (especially getting blown out) with the way they had been rolling people all playoffs, including LS. Nevertheless, congrats on a great year to RHP.
From T. Peterson: If you would have seen Sonora you wouldn’t have been surprised.
Since they went to this ratings system in 2016, the Southern Section is 27-38 in State Championship games. If you take out the Open division, where the SS is 9-0, then the SS record is a terrible 18-38. Throw in the LA City section and it’s like 19-45 or close to it minus the open division wins.
I have no idea if they are, but if I had to bet, my money would be on the ratings guys being based in Northern California.
Just my hunch based on the Southern Section going 18-38 in State finals games, not counting the Open Division games since 2016.
A high % of the losses being blowouts.
Seems like some serious sandbagging going on for the NorCal teams.
In 2018 when EM beat Arroyo. That was a fun day game!
In the very top division of the state championships, #5 Santa Margarita beat #15 De LaSalle 47-13. This win, coupled with the way the south OC team has been playing this last month, might be enough to snag a national championship. I’ve heard the pollsters are stymied on whether to vote Santa Margarita or Pioneer as the new champs, chewing over how that fake punt should figure into the merits of Juarez’s unit. Again, I caution our friend ‘Rise of the Titans’ to not purchase championship rings ahead of time.
A day game! Let’s have more varsity day games!
I know that they can be problematic on school days, but at least have some on Saturdays. Day games are a lot of fun, in my opinion, and I believe that Saturday afternoon games would draw good crowds, too.
I believe that Sonora team could play toe-to-toe with teams such as Mission Viejo and Servite, and today’s result is what we’d have if RHP were to play those OC powers. CIF State needs to reconsider and reconfigure its matchups, because this one wasn’t in the ballpark of competitive equity.
Sure, let’s congratulate Sonora…go home and mine for gold, but know this game was obviously a mismatch, something that leaves a big question mark on the veracity of the state selection people.