El Modena football dominates Canyon with defense

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ORANGE — El Modena’s defense was impenetrable on Friday night.

No matter where Canyon’s football team began its drives, El Modena seemed intent on keeping the Comanches out of the end zone.

The Vanguards ultimately succeeded in the 35-0 victory at El Modena High, their second shutout in the past three games.

Next up for El Modena (4-1) is a matchup against unbeaten El Dorado on Friday night.

“We’ll just keep practicing and get better each week,” El Modena coach Matt Mitchell said. “Just believe in each other and play hard for each other, and we’re good.”

The Comanches (1-4) did not punt in the first half. Three of their drives ended with interceptions and the other three on downs.

David Vasquez ended the first Canyon possession with an interception, giving El Modena the ball near midfield.

The Vanguards marched down and took a 7-0 lead on a 2-yard touchdown catch by Sam Astor on fourth-and-goal with 1:29 left in the opening quarter.

Alex Luna intercepted a pass on Canyon’s second possession and El Modena capitalized again.

Astor had a 24-yard reception over the middle to move the ball into Canyon territory, and quarterback Jack Keays scored four plays later on a 5-yard keeper for a 14-0 lead with 9:31 left in the first half.

Vanguards defensive back Mayson Hitchens said El Modena’s defense was winning the early battles in the trenches, forcing Canyon quarterback Christian Lundsberg to scramble early and often.

“The pressure getting on (Lundsberg) was unreal,” Hitchens said.

Canyon linebacker Luke Oliva had a sack to disrupt El Modena’s opening drive of the game. He added an interception in the second quarter to give the Comanches prime field possession at the Vanguards’ 18-yard line.

El Modena forced Lundsberg into four straight incompletions, however.

Canyon got back inside El Modena’s 20-yard line later in the second quarter, but El Modena defensive lineman Esteban Choucair had a sack on fourth down to end that threat.

Keays then found Blake Armstrong wide open for a 16-yard touchdown with 2:07 left in the second quarter. The Vanguards took a 21-0 lead into the half, but they didn’t relax.

“They’ve come back a couple times,” Mitchell said of Canyon. “We were nervous.”

Canyon recovered a fumble on its first defensive series of the second half, but the offense gave the ball right back on the next play with Hitchens recovering a fumble for El Modena’s fourth takeaway of the game.

Owen Smith ran in from 1 yard to stretch the lead to 35-0 with 11:29 left in the game.