California high school with 71 boys takes on school with 3,635 enrollment in CIF football final

Rio Hondo Prep will play Warren High in the CIF Southern Section Division 7 final in what might be the biggest difference in enrollment for a CIF final ever.

Rio Hondo Prep football players at the annual CIF football luncheon for finalists. / Tarek Fattal

LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA - Rio Hondo Prep football coach Mark Carson had a very laid-back demeanor on Monday at the CIF football luncheon despite the monumental difference in enrollment between his small private school in Arcadia, and Warren High, a public school located in Downey.

Rio Hondo Prep has a total enrollment of 120 students, including 71 boys. Warren High has an enrollment of 3,635. Most coaches might gripe about the glaring difference. But not Carson, he's leaning into it with humor.

"See those seven guys at the table over there? ... That's about 10% of the boys in our school," Carson said laughing.

"If I'm not mistaken, I think it's the highest enrollment differential in CIF finals history," Carson added.

Rio Hondo Prep (10-1) will host Warren High (6-7) in the CIF Southern Section Division 7 final on Friday at Arcadia High school.

"Look, almost every school we play has a bigger enrollment than us. That's part of it," Carson said. "But this is even more than last year's CIF final when we played Santa Monica."

Rio Hondo Prep won the Division 9 title last year, beating Santa Monica 29-27. Santa Monica's enrollment is 2,564.

Warren coach Adam Leonard on the enrollment difference.

"Any time you compare a public versus a private, that's always going to be the case of enrollment, but it's also selection process," Leonard said. "They selected who they want to be on their team and who they want to be a part of their school and I'm pretty sure they're not just taking anybody ... that's one thing to look at the bigger picture if you look at roster, it's not far off."

WHY THE BIG ENROLLMENT DIFFERENCE?

So, how do these two programs get paired up in the same division? 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.

Warren, which reached the Division 3 final last year, went 3-7 during the regular season this fall and dropped them into Division 7. The Bears overcame some early-season drama when quarterback Maddan Iamaleava and wideout Jace Brown - both UCLA commits - suddenly left the school after the team's season opener in August.

Iamaleava and Brown attempted to transfer to Long Beach Poly, but the move was denied.

"Well, our players, have really bought in to the process of what we want to be, not only as football players, but as young men," first-year head coach Adam Leonard said. "So, we just kept our focus on who is in house and what we could do to best improve."

Warren has rolled through the division, beating Palm Desert 35-7, Golden Valley 40-14 and Yucaipa 41-17.

"They'll be the biggest team we've played all year," Carson said of Warren.

Rio Hondo Prep has beaten Ramona (35-0), ML King (28-7) and West Torrance (42-21) and is eyeing the program's 16th CIF title.

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