El Modena Puts the Clamps on Foothill

ORANGE —  El Modena High School rallied in the second half to defeat Foothill, 21-13, and clinch at least a tie for the Empire League football title Thursday night at El Modena High.

The heavily favored Vanguards (6-3, 4-0 in league) trailed, 13-7, at halftime. But El Modena’s defense came on to shut down the Knights’ offense, and running back Adam Garcia and quarterback Jose Prado keyed two third-quarter touchdowns.

Bryan Reynolds, Pancho Oporeza, Andy Bourgelais and the rest of the Vanguards’ defensive unit held Foothill to 13 yards total offense in the second half. Bourgelais led the way with three sacks.

Garcia rushed for 173 yards and two touchdowns in 25 carries and accounted for nearly all of El Modena’s offense in the first half.

After stopping Foothill on the Knights’ 15-yard line, El Modena took control following the punt on the Foothill 45. Four handoffs to Garcia later--the last one for 29 yards and a touchdown--the Vanguards tied the score at 13-13. An extra point put El Modena ahead, 14-13.

The Vanguards later drove 55 yards for the final score. With Garcia starting to tire, Prado completed his first two passes of the game. The second one went 22 yards to Jay Montano for the touchdown.

Sean Saunders scored twice for Foothill (1-8, 0-4) on runs of two and one yards.