Garcia Passes for 3 Scores as El Modena Beats Orange

ORANGE — Matt Garcia passed for 149 yards and three touchdowns to lead El Modena to a 45-7 victory over Orange in a Century League game Friday night at El Modena High.

El Modena (3-5, 2-1) rebounded from a 14-13 loss to Foothill last week to get back in the playoff race.

“Tonight was our season,” El Modena Coach Steve Howard said. “Both teams came in with one loss against Foothill, so this game makes it or breaks it.”

The Vanguards rolled to a 31-7 halftime lead, thanks mostly to its defense. Other than a 52-yard touchdown pass from Zach Bell to Sean Jones on the Panthers’ first possession, El Modena limited Orange (3-5, 1-2) to minus-14 yards of offense in the first half.

Kevin Vu’s 23-yard interception return for El Modena tied it at 7 with 3 minutes 16 seconds left in the first quarter. A Jerome Anderson interception three minutes later set up Matt Garcia’s three-yard touchdown pass to Ian Souza.

With 3:49 left in the half, Keith Luper tackled Ken Collins in the end zone for a safety and a 16-7 lead. Another touchdown pass from Garcia to Souza and a two-point conversion pass from Garcia to Kevin Dykes made it 24-7.

Mike Walters blocked a punt and recovered it in the end zone for a 31-7 lead with less than a minute left in the half.

Garcia hit Dykes with a 71-yard scoring pass with 10:43 left in the third quarter for a 38-7 lead.