CENTURY LEAGUE : Canyon Rallies Twice to Tie El Modena

ORANGE — Canyon created chances, then wasted opportunity Thursday night. Still, the Comanches walked off with a 21-21 tie with El Modena at El Modena High School.

Distasteful? Perhaps. But it was acceptable.

The Comanches rallied twice in the second half to tie the score and then were given a chance to win after defensive back Brent Nogle intercepted a pass. Canyon had the ball on the El Modena 42-yard line with 54 seconds left.

Kicker Casey Wilson had already hit field goals of 45 and 40 yards, but didn’t get a chance to try a game-winner. Penalties and sloppy play kept Wilson from getting a chance to win the game.

With the tie, Canyon improved its playoff chances. A victory, or even a tie, against Villa Park next week and the Comanches qualify for postseason for the first time since 1986.

El Modena now needs a victory, plus a Canyon loss, to have a chance at the playoffs.

“We’ll have to wait and see what the repercussions are from this one,” El Modena Coach Steve Howard said.

It didn’t seem as if the Vanguards were going to have to sweat that out. Canyon appeared ripe for a collapse in the second half.

Twice, El Modena (5-3-1, 1-2-1) went up by a touchdown and twice the Comanches (6-1-2, 2-1-1) came back. This from a team that went down meekly a week ago in a 41-21 loss to Foothill.

Thursday, they hung tough.

Matt Mitchell threw one touchdown pass, then ran 48 yards for another, as the Vanguards led, 14-6, late in the third quarter. They couldn’t close it out.

A 51-yard touchdown run by Joel Reese (11 carries, 110 yards) cut the deficit to 14-12. Adam Hoover hit Gunnar Strunz for a two-point conversion to tie the score.

Brandon Ogden’s 17-yard touchdown run gave the Vanguards a 21-14 lead with five minutes left.

“I thought this was going to be our last chance,” Hoover said. “We had to air it out.”

Hoover, who was 20 of 28 for 216 yards, did.

A week ago, he was rattled by Foothill. Those jitters continued in the first half, as Hoover was sacked four times--once with no one defender around him.

But with the Comanches in a bind, he hit two deep passes.

First, a 39-yard completion to Greg Jacobs (6 catches, 115 yards) gave the Comanches the ball at the El Modena 34. Two plays later, Jacobs and defensive back Brian Hanson leaped for a Hoover pass in the end zone. Both came down with the ball, giving Jacobs the touchdown.

“When the ref threw up his hand, I started breathing again,” Hoover said. “This feels pretty good, even if it was a tie.”