PREP EXTRA / ORANGE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL : Santana’s Touchdown Runs Help El Modena Blow Past Loara, 27-16

ANAHEIM — Aaron Santana rushed for 164 yards in 23 carries and scored two first-half touchdowns to lead El Modena to a 27-16 victory over Loara in a nonleague football game Friday at Glover Stadium.

Defensive back Mike Alvidrez set up the first El Modena touchdown with an interception in the first quarter. Santana scored from the 10-yard line after a 66-yard drive, and Frank Rubalcaba passed to Jason Said for the two-point conversion to give El Modena an 8-0 lead.

The Vanguards’ drive was kept alive when they drew Loara offside on fourth-and-one at the El Modena 43.

Loara (1-4) tied the score with about three minutes left in the second quarter when Nathan Robbins blocked a punt and Vince Vaccaro returned it five yards for a touchdown. Tony Diersing scored the two-point conversion on a pass from Archie Lappin.

With less than a minute left in the first half, Santana took a handoff from Bobby Calderon on a fake punt for a 46-yard scoring run to give El Modena a 14-8 lead.

El Modena (4-1) increased its lead to 20-8 when Greg deFries capped a 66-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run. For the second consecutive time, the conversion kick failed.

The Vanguards put the game away on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Cesar Vasquez to Calderon.

Loara scored on a seven-yard run by Marcus McBride and Lappin scored the two-point conversion.

A strong defensive effort late in the first half enabled El Modena to prevent a Loara score. On first-and-goal from the eight, Chad Adams dropped John Duhon for a four-yard loss. On the next play, deFries forced Lappin out of bounds for a five-yard loss. Pat Salceda intercepted Lappin’s pass on third down.