El Modena wears down Northwood

IRVINE - El Modena stayed close for three quarters, then delivered the knockout blow in the fourth quarter to defeat Northwood, 21-14, Friday night in a nonleague game at Irvine.

The Vanguards (2-2) trailed, 14-0, midway through the second quarter but blanked Northwood the rest of the way.

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"We've been battling the last couple of weeks. Our defense has been playing extremely hard, and we had nothing to show for it. It seemed like we were on the same ride over and over," El Modena coach Ed Drzanek said.

"Finally, these kids just found a way to get it done. Northwood didn't make it easy for us. They were battling and they were well coached."

But the El Modena players battled, too, particularly on the offensive line, opening up holes for Josh Anderson (62 yards on 23 carries) and Jordan Brown (60 yards on 16 carries).

With an effective running game, El Modena was able to control the game and limit Northwood (1-2) to four possessions in the second half.

"We challenged our offensive line that they had to get it done," Drzanek said. "We just got after it."

El Modena closed the gap to 14-13 when Alfonso Cacciatore connected on a 39-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter.

The Vanguards then took the lead when Max Silver scored from 2 yards out with 2:57 left. Silver also ran in for the two-point conversion to give El Modena a 21-14 lead.

Northwood advanced the ball to its own 42 on its next possession but was unable to convert on a fourth-and-3 play with 37 seconds left.

"They outcoached us; their kids played really hard," Northwood coach Rick Curtis said. "We just didn't adjust to some things and they ball controlled us and up front, they took it to us. They deserved to win, no doubt about it."

It was looking promising for Northwood in the early going.

Late in the first quarter, Evan Larson intercepted a deflected pass and returned it 4 yards for a TD,

The Timberwolves moved out to a 14-0 lead when quarterback Ricky Bautista connected with Alex King on a 31-yard TD pass with 6:08 left in the second quarter.

But Cacciatore kicked a 40-yard field goal and Anderson scored on a 2-yard TD run on the Vanguards' final two possessions of the first half to make it close.