ORANGE — In a game that featured two heavily contrasted halves of football, one element that remained consistent was El Modena’s defense.
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The Vanguards forced six turnovers and held firm a few other times when their offense provided Foothill a short field, allowing them to hold on for a 28-10 victory in a nonleague game at El Modena High.
El Modena (3-0) took a comfortable 21-0 lead into halftime against the Knights, but committed two turnovers in the second half and didn’t earn a first down until Hayden Esparza scored on a 2-yard with 2:05 left in the game to make it 28-10.
That touchdown was set up one play earlier when Thomas Sheehan swiped the fourth interception of the game by El Modena and returned it inside the 5-yard line.
Esparza had two of the interceptions and Walker Duff had the other, as well as two sacks.
“I hope offensively we’ll do a little better,” El Modena coach Matt Mitchell said. “We were well-balanced in the first half, but I think the second-half defense definitely carried us for the win.”
Foothill’s best chance to get back in the game came early in the fourth quarter, when a 31-yard pass from Fysher Jamieson to Ford Wooton gave the Knights first-and-goal at the 8.
The Vanguards sent Foothill’s offense backwards, however, forcing the Knights to kick a 30-yard field goal by Noah Fox that hit the crossbar and bounced over, cutting the lead to 21-10 with 9:57 left.
“We have a chance to cut it to 21-14, and then you never know what’s going to happen at that point,” Foothill coach Jason Jellerson said.
El Modena’s offense would go three-and-out two more times, but each time its defense answered with an interception, the final time setting up Esparza’s clinching score.
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“We just never got back into our rhythm,” Mitchell said. “We just never got in sync that second half. … A little out of sync and no momentum.”
Foothill (1-3) lost a fumble on its opening drive of the game and the Vanguards marched down the field on their first offensive series and scored on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Sorenson to Daniel Avila for a 7-0 lead.
Sorenson connected with Jason Ramos on a 8-yard touchdown strike to make it 14-0 with 5:07 left in the first half.
Duff made the defensive play of the game when he blitzed Jamieson, tipped and intercepted his dump-off attempt and returned it to the Foothill 15 with 32 seconds left in the first half.
Sorenson would score on the next play after faking a handoff, cutting up the middle and diving into the end zone for a 21-0 lead with 27 seconds left until halftime.
“Against a well-coached team like that, the errors we committed, you won’t survive a game like that,” Jellerson said.
The Vanguards then received the second-half kickoff, but in a sign of things to come they lost a fumble on the first play from scrimmage.
“I’m proud of the fight in the second half,” Jellerson said. “I know we were flying around a little bit better, trying to be more intentional.”
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