Football Preview: Torrance Tartars vs. Rio Hondo Prep Kares
Torrance has been on the road for two straight, but on Friday they'll finally head home. They will host the Rio Hondo Prep Kares at 7:00 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.
Torrance is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They enjoyed a cozy 38-19 win over El Segundo on Friday. Given the Tartars' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 147th, while the Eagles are ranked 381st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, Rio Hondo Prep put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They took their contest at home with ease, bagging a 44-6 victory over Bellflower. Fans of the Kares have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season has ended in a blowout of 20+ points.
Rio Hondo Prep's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Nathaniel Shine, who rushed for 65 yards and a touchdown. Shine was no stranger to the big play, turning on the jets for a run that went for 65 yards. Rainn Pollock was in the mix as well, providing Rio Hondo Prep with two touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Rio Hondo Prep was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 221 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 166 rushing yards in 12 consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
Rio Hondo Prep's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged three passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Pollock and Nathaniel Curtis. What's more, Curtis also racked up 72 rushing yards, the mosthe's had since back in November of 2023.
Torrance pushed their record up to 4-0 with the win, which was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season. As for Rio Hondo Prep, their victory bumped their record up to 5-0.
Torrance might still be hurting after the 29-9 defeat they got from Rio Hondo Prep when the teams last played back in September of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Rio Hondo Prep's Noah Penunuri, who rushed for 114 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries. Now that Torrance knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
