Rio Hondo Prep falls to Sonora in Division 2-A state championship football game
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- Rio Hondo Prep, with only 82 students, fell to undefeated Sonora 35-10 in the Division 2-A state championship after averaging 39 points all season.
- Star running back Noah Penunuri, who entered with nearly 2,000 yards, managed just 12 carries because of two bad ankles, crippling the Kares’ ground attack.
- Sonora extended its state-leading winning streak to 22 consecutive games, showcasing why the defending champion remains among California’s small-school football elite.
Two small-school giants took center stage in the first game of the CIF state championship bowl tripleheader Saturday in Mission Viejo and showed how to play big-time football.
In a battle of undefeated powerhouses, Rio Hondo Prep played tough but was overmatched by Sonora in a 35-10 loss in the Division 2-A title game at Saddleback College.
Only 82 boys attend Rio Hondo Prep, yet the Kares (15-1) have grown accustomed to beating schools with much larger enrollments — as they did two weeks earlier in a 29-7 victory over Redondo Union for their 17th Southern Section title. Entering Saturday’s showdown they were averaging 39 points a game, but for the first time all season they faced an opponent that was able to bottle up their running backs and force them to throw — not their bread and butter.
“You watch film on everybody and you come up with a strategy … but sometimes it doesn’t work out as planned,” said quarterback Yanick Diaz, who tossed a 46-yard touchdown pass to wideout Elias Har with 53 seconds left in the game but was sacked once and had two passes intercepted. “I’m so proud of my guys. Even though we lost we gave it 100% and left it all out on the field.”
Easton Jara kicked a 27-yard field goal to pull Rio Hondo within 7-3 late in the first quarter, and in the second quarter the Kares drove deep into Sonora territory but came up empty after a drop in the end zone by Har and a fourth-down stop by the Wildcats at their own 14.
Noah Penunuri, Rio Hondo’s leading rusher and a starting safety, entered the game with more than 1,200 yards and 22 touchdowns but was injured and able to contribute only 12 yards in six carries.
“I wish we would’ve been a little more healthy for this game but give them credit — they did a great job,” Kares coach Mark Carson said. “Noah had two bad ankles. He tried to go a couple series but he just couldn’t do it. We thought we could get them over the top and we got them a couple times but not enough.”
Sonora put the game out of reach in the third quarter, marching 47 yards in seven plays on its first possession and scoring on Tommy Sutton’s one-yard run to open an 18-point lead. An interception by Steven Morfoot led to another one-yard touchdown by Sutton that made it 28-3 with 1:34 left in the quarter.
The Wildcats (15-0), who won the state 4-A bowl last year, extended their winning to 22 games — the longest active streak in California.
Christian Lee carried eight times for 54 yards and caught three passes for 27 yards, Tyler Dang had three catches for 65 yards and Har added two catches for 83 yards to lead Rio Hondo.
“You mourn a little after this but I’m sure when the guys have time to reflect, they’ll realize it was a great season,” Carson said.
