Salesian High School is in uncharted territory, Rio Hondo Prep is on familiar ground.

That’s the landscape for the two football programs meeting at 7 p.m. Saturday at Rio Hondo Prep in the CIF Southern Section Northeast Division semifinals.

The Arcadia-based Kares, 12-0 and seeded No. 1, are the defending champions in this division and have long been a small-school power.

Salesian, 6-6 (four of the losses were by forfeit), doesn’t have a particularly distinguished football tradition, having reached the second round of the playoffs only once previously in the 51-year history of the school. This is the deepest the Mustangs have ever advanced in this sport.

Architect of the renaissance at the East L.A. boys Catholic school is coaching veteran Roddie Hiatt, in his first year at Salesian.

History aside, he set his hopes high from the outset.

“When they interviewed me for the job, I said my goals were to win a CIF championship,” Hiatt said. “I don’t want to be someplace where they’re happy with three or four wins a season.”

Now he’s on the doorstep, provided he can get past Rio Hondo Prep. The winner advances to the Dec. 12 title game to face the survivor of Friday’s Chadwick-Linfield Christian semifinal.

“They’re a very well-coached, solid team that doesn’t make many mistakes,” Hiatt said. “They’re very fundamentally sound. I think it’s going to be a heck of a battle.”

Standouts for the Kares include tailback Charles Quintero, fullback Nick Preciado and tight end/middle linebacker Cody Cowell.

Quintero rushed for 244 yards on 15 carries in a 68-6 rout of Saddleback Valley Christian in the quarterfinals. Quintero and fullback Nick Preciado form a solid one-two running combination and quarterback Chris Llamas is a capable passer.

Cowell has recorded 77 tackles and five interceptions on defense and 13 receptions for 292 yards on offense.

Salesian, which advanced with a 35-28 overtime victory over Mojave, has a well-balanced team, although Hiatt points to the defense as the key to its success.

Junior defensive end Devon Moreland is the Santa Fe League defensive MVP. He has a team-best 77 tackles.

Another is linebacker Josh Williams, who is already getting recruiting attention. Hiatt calls him “a man among boys.”

Senior inside linebacker Gilbert Dominguez and junior safety Greg Castillo, who has six interceptions, are other standouts. Dominguez had two scoring receptions, a fumble recovery on a 2-point conversion attempt and 15 tackles against Mojave. Castillo had a 105-yard interception return against Bosco Tech earlier this year.

Frank Beltran, who took over the job full-time in game three, is the starting quarterback.

Evan Bracken, Tyquion Ballard and Andrew Romero share the running back duties. Bracken, who was at Camp Kilpatrick a year ago, was at the heart of Salesian having to forfeit four games.

Hiatt blamed it on a paperwork error, saying the school, not the kid, was in error. He said everything would have been okay if Bracken had come on a “hardship” basis instead of as a residency change. He’s trying to get the Southern Section to restore the four forfeits.

“Either way, we know we’re 10-2, not the 6-6 it says in the books,” he said.
If Salesian has an ace in the hole it would be senior kicker Miguel Rodriguez, who has nine field goals, including a pair in the first round against Animo Leadership. Rodriguez, a 3.8 student, is in his first year of football after starring on the championship soccer team.

“I already told Cal coach Jeff Tedford, who I coached when he was playing at Cerritos College, about our kicker,” Hiatt, who has coached at a number of area schools over the last 34 years, said. “He’s kicked a 62-yarder in practice and we don’t even have him try anything shorter than 42 or 43 yards in warmups.”