PREP FOOTBALL : Central League

El Modena 24, Villa Park 0--The fortunes of El Modena’s football team and Villa Park’s squad continued to move in opposite directions.

El Modena brought a modest two-game winning streak into Fred Kelly Stadium, while Villa Park was trying to stop a three-game losing streak. Andthe team on its way up had no problems with the team on its way down.

The Vanguards, who had their second straight shutout, weren’t nearly as dominating as they were last week against Santa Ana Valley.

But consider that El Modena had this act to follow:

The Vanguards held Santa Ana Valley to four yards in total offense and one first down. Santa Ana Valley never crossed midfield.

“That’s hard to beat,” El Modena Coach Bill Backstrom said.

But El Modena (2-0, 4-3) gave it a shot. Villa Park’s best scoring opportunity came on its first possession of the game. The Spartans (0-2, 2-5) reached the Vanguard 24-yard line with 8:24 remaining in the first quarter.

On fourth and eight, Villa Park faked a field goal and went for a pass, but El Modena’s Ross Bauer came up with the interception.

That eventually led to the first of Bauer’s three touchdowns. After the turnover, Bauer scored 10 plays later on a 3-yard run. His other touchdowns came on runs of one and four yards.

“He’s very steady,” Backstrom said. “He was one of the top rushers in the county last year, and he’s on his way this year once we got him healthy.”

Bauer, who carried 23 times for 159 yards, was troubled with an injury to his right ankle in the early part of the season. He hurt it two days before the opener and missed that game. In the second game, Bauer only played on defense.

The presence of Bauer takes quite a bit of pressure off sophomore quarterback Trey Frank, according to Backstrom.

“For a sophomore, he (Frank) has great poise,” Backstrom said. “He’s improved every week. And our offensive line is doing the job for Ross (Bauer). We wanted to control the ball today and we wanted to play good defense.”