Rio Hondo Prep in Arcadia is like “The Little Engine That Could.” The Kares are 13-0 and set to play for a 17th Southern Section football title on Saturday night despite having a student body of only 150, of which 82 are boys. Their opponent in the Division 5 final is host Redondo Union, which has a student body of nearly 3,000.
Coach Mark Carson said he embraces the challenge of his team moving up, from winning Division 9 two years ago to winning Division 7 last season after years of competing in Division XIII under old playoff systems based on size, geography and past performance. Now a computer algorithm decides divisional placement. The school has grades seven through 12, so Carson starts training players in middle school with the same offense through high school.
“The key is we have a great middle school tackle football program,” he said.
Every boy in the school knows they’re going to play football or work in the program as a manager. Many are multiple-sport athletes. The chemistry and knowledge they build together is apparent on the football field.
“We don’t really pay attention to numbers on the other team,” Carson said.
Quarterback Yanick Diaz said he has been with some of his teammates since kindergarten. They trust each other.
“I’ve known some of these guys for 15, 16 years,” Diaz said. “It’s still 11 versus 11. I’ll take my 11 over yours.”
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].
The Haim family is on the verge of celebrating another City Section championship while playing for El Camino Real.
Last season, All-City infielder Juju Haim helped the baseball team win the City Section Open Division title at Dodger Stadium.
On Saturday, his sister, Talya, will try to quarterback El Camino Real’s flag football team to a City Division I title. The Royals face Carson at 5 p.m. at Garfield.
Talya is a junior who has been the starting shortstop for the softball team since her freshman year. She picked up flag football quickly, becoming an accurate passer and mobile quarterback. She has 40 touchdown passes this season.
Carson will present a severe challenge with a pair of talented sophomore quarterbacks in Sa’niya King and Soriyah Maulupe.
Talya is hoping to earn some bragging rights from big brother and add her own ring.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].
They were battered, they were bruised, they were soaking wet and covered in stereotypes.
They’re not tough enough. They’re not resilient enough. They’re not Big Ten-enough.
Late in the second quarter Saturday afternoon at the Coliseum, a USC football team fighting for a playoff berth was crumbling beneath the weight of its worst national perception.
It was wilting under the weather and the weight of a team from Iowa.
Then, with big swings from a deep strength that few thought a Lincoln Riley team possessed, everything changed.
It’s raining wins, hallelujah.
Trailing 21-7, the Trojans got muddy and chilly and just plain mean, winning the line of scrimmage, winning the battle of skill, and eventually winning the game 26-21.
Yeah, afterward, that was Riley dancing in a downpour.
And, yes, USC is still in the national championship hunt, needing wins in its final two games at Oregon and against UCLA to qualify for the College Football Playoff.
Few will believe they can beat sixth-ranked and one-loss Oregon in Eugene. But then again, few believed they would survive Iowa after the Hawkeyes took that big second-quarter lead.
During the last 10 years, Iowa had an 83-5 record when leading by eight points or more. Translated, this is a program that knows how to protect a lead, and the Trojans were seemingly cooked.
But Makai Lemon made 153 yards worth of spectacular catches, King Miller ran for 83 bruising clock-killing yards, Jahkeem Stewart made a game-changing interception, Jayden Maiava held it together with a touchdown pass and no turnovers, and the game essentially appropriately ended with USC just being stronger.
On a fourth-down pass in the final minute, Kennedy Urlacher shoved Kaden Wetjen out of bounds as he was making a grab deep in Trojan territory.
No catch, game over, and in the end, the Trojans were as hearty as that section of fans that witnessed the game shirtless.
The afternoon started with groundskeepers drying the field with leaf blowers, the first rainy game at the Coliseum in nine years.
USC coach Lincoln Riley celebrates with wide receiver Prince Strachan during the second half of a 26-21 comeback win over Iowa at the Coliseum on Saturday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
But for USC under Riley, it felt the same, a late-season game requiring the sort of grimy toughness that his Trojans had yet to show.
Blew five fourth-quarter leads last season. Blew four of their last five games two seasons ago. Blew the Pac-12 championship game and a shot at the playoffs three seasons ago.
It looked like they were going to blow it again.
Iowa took the opening kickoff and drove 69 yards in seven plays in a bruising drive punctuated by a fourth-down, two-yard touchdown pass from Mark Gronowski to Dayton Howard in the back of the end zone.
Yes, the FBS’s 133rd ranked passing offense — out of 136 teams — had just scored on a pass play.
And Iowa was just getting started.
After stopping the Trojans’ Miller on a fourth-down run around just inside Iowa territory — a terrible Riley call against the nation’s best fourth-down defense — the Hawkeyes drove 45 yards in nine plays to score on a Gronowski one-yard push to take a 14-0 lead.
The Trojans came back while finally finding their groove, driving 74 yards on 11 plays featuring a leaping catch by Ja’Kobi Lane and ending with a one-yard touchdown run out of the wildcat formation by Bryan Jackson.
So USC had the momentum? Not so fast.
USC defensive tackle Jide Abasiri holds up the ball while celebrating with cornerback Decarlos Nicholson during the second half of the Trojans’ win Saturday over Iowa.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Iowa took the possession and pounded and pounded and nine plays and 75 yards later scored on a five-yard, trick-play pass from receiver Reece Vander Zee to Gronowski.
That gave Iowa a 21-7 lead that was shortened only by a Ryon Sayeri 40-yard field goal after a dropped pass and penalty stopped the Trojans.
USC took the ball at the start of the third quarter and seemed to be destined for a touchdown after a leaping sideline catch by Lemon. But a holding call against Lane ruined a long run by Miller, two failed pass plays stalled the drive, and the Trojans had to settle for a 29-yard field goal by Sayeri to close the gap to 21-13.
After the Trojans defense stiffened, the offense went back on a roll, using another leaping grab by Lemon — this one for 35 yards — to set up a 12-yard TD pass between three defenders to Lemon. Maiava overthrew Lemon on the two-point conversion attempt, but this time, the Trojans didn’t blow the momentum.
On Iowa’s next possession, with 1:52 left in the period, the powerful freshman Stewart grabbed a deflected pass for an interception to give the Trojans the ball on the Iowa 40-yard line.
From there, Maiava drove them 40 yards in six plays on a possession that was assisted by a pass interference penalty and gave them an eventual 26-21 lead after Jackson’s one-yard touchdown run.
An arrest had been made in connection with the Thursday shooting of Laney College athletic director and former football coach John Beam, the Oakland Police Department announced Friday morning.
Beam was shot on Thursday on the downtown Oakland campus, the Peralta Community College District confirmed to multiple media outlets, and was transported to a local hospital. His condition has not been made public. The Oakland police had not publicly named Beam as the shooting victim, but said there would be more information on the arrest forthcoming.
On Thursday at a news conference, Oakland’s acting police chief James Beere had told reporters that police were attempting to locate a potential suspect.
“It’s a male unknown race wearing all dark clothing and a black hoodie that fled the scene,” Beere said.
Beam coached football in Oakland — first at Skyline High School and then at Laney —for more than four decades before retiring from that aspect of his job after last season. He and the Eagles were featured during the 2020 season of the Netflix documentary series “Last Chance U.” The show depicted Beam as a mentor and father figure to his players, some of whom were facing significant challenges in their lives, as they navigate a football season.
“My thoughts are with Coach John Beam and his loved ones. We are praying for him,” Oakland mayor Barbara Lee said in a statement. “Coach Beam is a giant in Oakland — a mentor, an educator, and a lifeline for thousands of young people. For over 40 years, he has shaped leaders on and off the field, and our community is shaken alongside his family.”
The Oakland Police Department responded to calls of shots being fired at or near Laney around noon Thursday and found a “a victim suffering from a gunshot wound,” Beere said, adding that his department was interviewing witnesses and looking at surveillance footage as part of an active investigation.
According to the Laney website, Beam was 160-33-3 with four undefeated seasons at Skyline High. He came to Laney as running backs coach in 2004, was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2005 and became head coach in 2012. He coached the Eagles to the California Community College Athletic Association championship in 2018
Another shooting occurred on Wednesday at Skyline High School. A student was shot and is said to be in stable condition. Two suspects, both minors, have been arrested by Oakland police.
Denver Broncos linebacker and tackling savant Alex Singleton has long set a positive example for young football players in Southern California.
He holds annual free camps and clinics at his alma mater, Thousand Oaks High. He partners with the Special Olympics to raise awareness and support for his sister and others with disabilities. He brought the Thousand Oaks High team coached by his good friend Evan Yabu to SoFi Stadium to watch the Broncos play the Chargers.
And when Yabu became coach at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High two years ago, he became a familiar face there as well.
But nothing he’s done can rival the message he posted Monday on social media revealing his testicular cancer diagnosis, subsequent surgery and hopeful quick recovery.
“I wrestled with sharing such personal information publicly,” he wrote. “But the fact is, if it helps one person decide to pay closer attention to their body, then it is well worth it.
“Early detection and regular screenings save lives and can save loved ones from a lot of grief.”
Singleton revealed that elevated levels of the hormone Human Chorionic Gonadotropin were discovered from a random NFL drug test. An exam by a urologist confirmed the cancer diagnosis last week. Yet he elected to play Thursday against the Las Vegas Raiders before undergoing surgery to remove the tumor Friday.
He told close friends on a group text that the drug test indicated he either was on steroids or had testicular cancer. He wrote that he doesn’t take steroids, so he planned to play in the game then go straight into surgery.
Singleton, the Broncos’ leading tackler and a team captain, had nine tackles in the Broncos’ 10-7 victory over the Raiders. He addressed teammates Monday.
“This morning, I stood before our team as a lucky man,” he posted on Instagram. “I shared with my teammates and coaches that I underwent successful surgery on Friday for testicular cancer after being diagnosed last week.
“Thankfully, we believe the cancer was caught early with a great prognosis for me and my family. While we are still awaiting some additional test results, I fully expect to return to the field in the coming weeks.”
Singleton, 31, is a tackling machine. He first gained national recognition when he recorded 21 total tackles and two tackles for loss in a win over the Chargers in 2022. His 19 solo tackles were second most in NFL history.
Last season, he suffered a torn ACL in the first quarter of a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but continued to play a remarkable 49 snaps, finishing with 10 tackles.
Singleton, who played at FCS school Montana State, has recorded at least 120 tackles four times and has a team-high 89 tackles in 10 games this season.
“[We’ll] be there for him, continue the fight with him,” Broncos linebacker Justin Strnad told reporters Monday. “I’m just glad everyone is here to support him…. Ultimate competitor, ultimate team player. He’s going to overcome it, and we’re all going to be here for him.”
Singleton’s wife, Sam, gave birth in February to their first child, a daughter named Tallyn Maye. Singleton recognizes that his health comes before football, telling reporters Monday that he will study the pathology report and be tested weekly. He said a CT scan showed that the cancer had not spread, but he is unsure how long he will be sidelined while recovering.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame confirmed on Wednesday that 6-foot-7 Tyran Stokes, considered the No. 1 high school basketball player from the class of 2026, has withdrawn from school.
Stokes arrived last season from a Northern California prep school and helped the Knights reach the Southern Section Open Division championship game and the Southern California Regional final.
His departure could produce changes in national TV game plans for Notre Dame. The Knights are still expected to be one of the top teams in Southern California with San Diego State commit Zachary White and top junior NaVorro Bowman.
Stokes leaving Notre Dame makes Sierra Canyon the Mission League preseason favorite.
