El Modena Celebrates League Title : Prep football: A 14-10 victory over Orange gives Vanguards the Century League championship.

The playoff picture was clear-cut and both coaches suggested they would merely be tuning up their teams for postseason play.

But once El Modena High School had sealed its first Century League title in five years with a 14-10 victory over Orange Friday night, the celebration began in Fred Kelly Stadium.

El Modena’s players grabbed the Gatorade bucket and chased Coach Bill Backstrom across the field, but the coach was as elusive as his top running back, Adam Garcia, and was able to avoid a shower of ice water.

“That’s the fastest I’ve run in 12 years,” Backstrom said. “It’s been a long time coming. We finished either second or third since I became the head coach. I’m not sure who started this dumping-the-ice-bucket-over-the-coach routine, but I wasn’t going to have any part of it.”

El Modena (7-3, 5-0) couldn’t claim its sixth victory in a row until its free safety, Tim Gray, intercepted a pass at his own one-yard line with 1:23 left in the game.

El Modena had taken a 14-10 lead with 7:45 left in the game when Garcia, a shifty back with deceptive speed, broke loose for a 40-yard touchdown run.

Orange (5-4-1, 2-2-1) dominated play in the second half, overcoming a 7-0 halftime deficit with two long scoring drives.

Quarterback Josh Belvosky teamed with Mark Lightfoot on a 10-yard pass to tie the score in the third quarter.

Micah ) Knorr kicked a 22-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, pushing Orange ahead, 10-7.

Orange used running backs Ace Chiles and Brian Remmel, as well as short passes by Belvosky, for time-consuming drives. When El Modena got the ball back after Knorr’s field goal with 9:43 left in the game, it had run only four offensive plays.

It was clear that if El Modena had any designs on victory, Garcia was going to have to provide the spark. The senior tailback wasted little time, taking a pitch on his third carry of the drive and racing around the left end, eluding three tacklers for the winning score.

“Our offensive line came out that series with a vengeance,” Backstrom said. “Adam has the ability to spark the team when he hits the gaps and gets a long run. He turned the game around with one play.”

Garcia finished with 108 yards in 17 carries, but he took second billing to Orange’s Chiles in the second half. Chiles started slowly with seven yards rushing in the first half, but had 57 in the second half.

El Modena enters the playoffs having played three teams--Edison, Tustin and Sunny Hills--that went on to win league titles and another, Loara, that finished second in its league.

“Nobody played a tougher schedule than us,” Backstrom said. “Hopefully, our schedule has gotten us ready for the playoffs.”