FACTS AND FIGURES / PLAYOFF HISTORY

Canyon

Last appearance: 1996.

Record: 6-9 in nine appearances.

Highlights: Fell to Loara in the 1979 Southern Conference title game.

El Modena

Last appearance: 1997 (second year in a row).

Record: 31-17 in 20 appearances.

Highlights: Had a 10-game winning streak in Southern Section playoff games during the ‘80s, defeating Foothill in 1983 and Esperanza in 1984 to win Southern Conference championships. Defeated Pacifica in 1978 Southern Conference championship game.

Foothill

Last appearance: 1997 (second year in a row).

Record: 26-16 in 17 appearances.

Highlights: In 1981, a year in which the Century League dominated the Southern Conference, defeated Villa Park in the semifinals and El Modena in the championship game.

Orange

Last appearance: 1992.

Record: 6-9 in nine appearances since 1945.

Highlights: Defeated Bonita in 1929 to win the Minor League championship of Southern California.

Santa Ana Valley

Last appearance: 1995 (only appearance since 1978).

Record: 19-11 in 13 appearances.

Highlights: Defeated Culver City to win 3-A championship in 1961, when the school was only three years old, and outscored five opponents, 144-41, to win 1974 3-A title.

Villa Park

Last appearance: 1997.

Record: 25-16 in 17 appearances.

Highlights: Reached section championship game three years in a row from 1975-77, finally breaking through with a victory over Los Alamitos for the 1977 Southern Conference title.

1997 IN REVIEW

Although the Century League didn’t have any of its teams venture deep into the Southern Section playoffs, the league provided an exciting race that produced co-champions. Foothills which won its fourth title in five years shared the title with Villa Park.

There could have been tri-champions in the league. But Canyon, which lost its first nine games of the season beat El Modena in the final regular-season game, 23-0. With a victory, El Modena would have shared the league title with Foothill and Villa Park.

Canyon’s Jermaine Montgomery rushed for 145 yards in 17 carries and had a 106-yard interception return in the upset.

Foothill clinched its share of he title with a 56-7 victory over Santa Ana Valley in the final week. Skyler Champion scored five touchdowns in that game and finished the season with 1,043 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns.

Champion rushed for 223 yards in 24 carries to help Foothill defeat El Dorado in triple overtime, 50-49, in the first round of the Division V playoffs.

Foothill lost to Tustin, 40-19, in the second round. Foothill was the only league team to win a playoff game. Brea Olinda defeated El Modena, 31-11, and Newport Harbor defeated Villa Park, 34-13.

Villa Park’s league loss came against El Modena. Matt Garcia’s six-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Dykes with no time remaining lifted El Modena past Villa Park, 13-10.

One week earlier, villa Park topped Foothill, 24-23. Dache Dameron scored two touchdowns for the Spartans, but they preserved the victory when punter Matt Jackson took a safety as time ran out.

League

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Standings W L T Villa Park 4 1 0 Foothill 4 1 0 El Modena 3 2 0 Santa Ana Valley 2 3 0 Orange 1 4 0 Canyon 1 4 0

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Overall

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Standings W L T TP PA Villa Park 6 4 1 201 166 Foothill 6 0 332 360 El Modena 4 7 0 180 237 Santa Ana Valley 3 7 0 162 307 Orange 3 7 0 133 208 Canyon 1 9 0 71 295

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Leaders / Statistics include regular-season games only

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PASSING Att Cp TD Yds Ramirez, SA Valley 232 116 9 1,806 Koster, Foothill 157 88 14 1,044 Jackson, Villa Park 172 76 11 1,008 Garcia, El Modena 149 64 7 901 J. Chelini, Canyon 116 48 3 586

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RUSHING Att Yds Avg. Dameron, Villa Park 165 775 4.7 Williams, El Modena 165 744 4.5 Perry, Orange 90 434 4.8 Mora, Santa Ana Valley 86 389 4.5 Montgomery, Canyon 84 384 4.6

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RECEIVING Att Yds Avg. Bartlett, Santa Ana Valley 51 986 19.3 Concolino, Foothill 48 621 12.9 Save, Santa Ana Valley 42 605 14.4 Wann, Villa Park 21 339 16.1 Lais, Canyon 20 277 13.9

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SCORING TD FG XP Pts Champion, Foothill 11 0 0 66 Bartlett, Santa Ana Valley 9 0 0 54 Dameron, Villa Park 8 0 0 48 Hall, Foothill 8 0 0 48 Williams, El Modena 8 0 0 48

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