Loara Hands El Modena Its Fourth Loss in a Row

It seemed as if El Modena had finally caught a break in the schedule.

The last three weeks, the Vanguards lost to Sunny Hills, Tustin and Santa Margarita. But Loara (3-2) proved to be a worthy foe and the Saxons beat El Modena, 17-0, Friday night at Glover Stadium.

Loara’s defense was superb. Behind the play of Sam Marks, Danny Diersing and sophomore defensive back Jeremy Ellis, the Saxons held El Modena (1-4) to 56 yards of total offense.

If it wasn’t for mistakes, the Saxon’s probably would have won by a larger margin. El Modena’s Ian Souza and Scott Spearman each had a fumble recovery and an interception.

Loara’s offense settled down in the second half as quarterback Mike Morales got hot and led the Saxons to victory. He completed four of eight second-half passes for 160 yards.

Morales passed 64 yards to Johnny Patton to El Modena’s 22-yard line. Five plays later, Patton caught a five-yard touchdown pass, culminating an 84-yard drive that took only eight plays and gave the Saxons a 14-0 third-quarter lead.

Patton finished by catching four passes for 85 yards.