California small school with 71 boys faces another large public school for CIF State championship

Rio Hondo Prep will take on another large public school as it eyes the program's first-ever CIF State title.

Rio Hondo Prep, a small private school with just 71 boys, has been one of the great stories of the 2024 high school football season. / Photo courtesy of Rio Hondo Prep

One more public school stands in between Rio Hondo Prep and history.

The small school in Arcadia, Calif. of Los Angeles County has forged what could be California's best high school football story in 2024. If Rio Hondo Prep takes down Fairfield Vanden in Saturday's CIF State Division 3-A final at Long Beach City College, it will have taken down three straight big public schools en route to the school's first-ever state title.

At that point, the school might want to consider changing its mascot from the Kares to the Public School Slayers.

Rio Hondo Prep, a school with just 71 boys and an enrollment of 120, made headlines in late November when it prepped to play Warren High in the CIF Southern Section Division 7 final. Warren, a public school, has an enrollment of more than 3,600 students.

"Look, almost every school we play has a bigger enrollment than us. That's part of it," Rio Hondo Prep coach Mark Carson said.

RHP carries 43 players on its varsity roster.

Rio Hondo Prep beat Warren 43-16 in the sectional final then beat Poway High in the SoCal regional bowl game 28-14. Poway has an enrollment of 2,200 students.

Vanden, which won the NorCal 3-A regional title, has an enrollment of 1,600 students and will serve as Rio Hondo Prep's final opponent of the year.

The Kares have been riding the talents of two standout running backs in junior Noah Penunuri and senior Nathaniel Curtis, who've amassed 1,733 and 961 rushing yards on the year, respectively. Penunuri has 26 touchdowns in 14 games.

Caeden Holcomb, who is the team's leading tackler (76), is the team's third leading rusher at 730 yards and 10 touchdowns. Penunuri has 55 tackles.

Most of Rio Hondo Prep's key players play offense and defense, which makes the team's run even more impressive. Despite a lack of depth, the team's healthy is still intact even when playing both sides of the ball.

Rio Hondo Prep now has 16 CIF Southern Section titles, five of which are in 11-man. The others were in 8-man.

WHY THE BIG ENROLLMENT DIFFERENCE?

So, how did Rio Hondo Prep get paired up with so many big public schools?

The answer is competitive equity, which is a newer playoff system used by the CIF Southern Section that uses data and computer rankings based off the current season to place teams in their appropriate division to make for competitive games.

The result of this system can put teams that are usually in a higher division, but having a down year, in a lower playoff division. It can also put teams that are more suited for a lower division, in higher playoff division, if they're having a great year.

---

Bookmark High School on SI for all of the latest high school football news.

To get live updates on your phone - as well as follow your favorite teams and top games - you can download the SBLive Sports app:

Download iPhone App | Download Android App