Canyon downs El Modena
ORANGE Canyon used a victory over El Modena in 2008 to begin a five-game winning streak and reach the CIF-SS Division VI playoff semifinals.
The Comanches hope to do it again this season.
Kyle Rodriguez rushed for 79 yards and two scores as Canyon (3-4, 1-1) topped the Vanguards, 33-21, on Friday at El Modena High.
Quarterback Beau Perry added 100 yards passing and two touchdowns for the Comanches, who led 26-0 at halftime and 33-7 after three quarters.
“Anything could happen this year,” Canyon coach Brent McKee said. “We got the win tonight, that’s the main thing. We’ll need to get better. If we get going, we could make it to the semifinals again.”
Canyon will play Brea next week, then Villa Park and El Dorado to end the regular season. El Modena will face Tustin next week.
El Modena put up a fight in the last three minutes of the game after misfiring for the first 45. The Vanguards (2-5, 0-2) scored on Ryan Arballo’s 1-yard run and, after a fumble recovery, scored again on Taylor Jenkins’ 10-yard TD catch.
Arballo, who had 123 yards rushing, caught the 82-point pass to cut El Modena’s deficit to 33-21 with 24 seconds left.
But Canyon recovered the onside kick to seal the victory.
Canyon’s Skylee Sheard also intercepted a pass at the Canyon 4-yard line with 4:21 left.
“The kids played well in the second half,” El Modena coach Greg Olquin said. “We’ve just got to play four quarters. If we play like we did in the second half, there’s no telling what they could do.”
The Vanguards’ Brian Stiefel threw for 208 yards and two scores and helped the offense amass 230 of its 310 yards after halftime.
