Prep Football : El Modena’s First Victory a Big One, 17-8 Over Loara

El Modena High School, winless the past four weeks, finally found what it was looking for Friday night in a 17-8 football victory over Loara.

Although the Vanguards (1-4) played a sloppy first half, they came back to hand Loara (4-1), the 10th-ranked team in the Orange County Sportswriters Assn. poll, its first defeat in front of an estimated 1,400 at El Modena.

Neither team was deserving of a point in the first half, and neither scored.

El Modena came close early in the first quarter, but a 9-yard touchdown run by Ryan Ogden was called back on a holding penalty.

On the next play, Ogden again had a clear path to the end zone, but he fumbled, and Loara linebacker Steve Nichols recovered on the Saxon 8.

El Modena’s problems continued the next time it touched the ball. Pat Finn fumbled on a punt return, and the ball was recovered by Loara’s Brent Banta at El Modena’s 39.

Loara--which until Friday night had outscored opponents, 94-8--had its own problems in the first half.

Senior quarterback Jeff Gordon completed only 3 of 10 passes for 31 yards and threw 3 interceptions before being replaced in the third quarter by junior Chris Hoffman.

What did El Modena Coach Bill Backstrom tell the Vanguards at the half?

“Basically that they weren’t stopping us, we were stopping ourselves,” he said.

That must have been enough. On El Modena’s first possession after halftime, sophomore quarterback Adam Garcia put together a scoring drive.

Garcia rushed for 10 yards, completed passes of 29 and 5 yards and connected with Trey Frank for a 10-yard touchdown pass to give El Modena a 7-0 lead with 6:20 remaining in the third quarter.

Tim Hatcher kicked a 30-yard field goal with 17 seconds left in the third to boost the Vanguards’ lead to 10-0.

Loara, which suffered from mistakes all night, finally put together its only scoring drive in the fourth quarter. Saxon tackle Darren Van Zee recovered a fumble on the Vanguard 27, and Hoffman completed his first pass of the evening, connecting with Banta for a 27-yard touchdown pass with 9 minutes to go.

Tight end Eric Smith caught a pass from Hoffman for the conversion, but the Saxons still trailed, 10-8.

Marcus Esposito gave El Modena its third touchdown. Esposito, who led the Vanguards’ ground game with 62 yards in 15 carries, rushed 54 yards for the final drive, scoring on a 11-yard run to boost El Modena’s lead to 17-8.

Garcia completed 6 of 12 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 31 yards in 8 carries to help El Modena. Coy Collins gained 93 yards in 18 carries to lead Loara.