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ORANGE — Capistrano Valley’s football team took the field Thursday motivated by its “under-the-radar” status and immediate opportunity in the Delta League.
El Modena stood in the way as a spoiler that has reloaded faster than expected.
The Cougars seized their chance and set up an even bigger game next week.
Talon Spencer threw a touchdown and ran for another to highlight a 21-point outburst in the second quarter as Capistrano Valley collected a 30-14 victory at El Modena High.
The junior dual threat quarterback ran for a second touchdown in fourth quarter and finished with 171 yards passing for the Cougars (8-1, 4-0), ranked No. 15 in Orange County.
With the victory, Capistrano Valley remained tied for first place in the Delta League with Tustin (8-1, 4-0) and did its part to set up a showdown for the championship next week against the Tillers.
The Cougars broke their final huddle Thursday to “Tustin!”, which beat Western 42-21 in another Delta League game.
“Now, that we got a good win here against a great team, we can look forward to a game against Tustin for a league championship,” Spencer said. “Pregame, we were definitely focused on El Mo. … They played us hard last year and they played us hard this year again.”
Capistrano Valley will ride a six-game winning streak into its clash against defending champion Tustin on Thursday, Oct. 30 at Saddleback College.
“I think we’re a little under-the-radar but I like it that way,” said Capistrano Valley coach Sean Curtis, whose team lost to No. 7 Crean Lutheran 23-6. “(The Delta League) goes through (Tustin).”
Freshman running back Abel Gherasim sparked the Cougars’ second quarter by breaking a 58-yard touchdown run two plays after No. 20 El Modena took a 7-0 lead on a 3-yard TD run by sophomore Aiden Sullivan.
It was Gherasim’s fifth rushing touchdown while Sullivan scored his first.
Spencer, a first-year starter, then guided consecutive scoring drive as Capistrano Valley took control.
He capped a 76-yard march with a 1-yard TD run on third-and-goal and fired a 15-yard scoring strike to Brody Saavedra to punctuate a short drive.
Capistrano Valley’s defense made two plays in the first half that loomed significant as the Cougars led 21-7 at intermission.
The unit held on a fourth-and-goal from its 1 on the opening possession of the first quarter. Capistrano Valley also received an interception in the end zone from freshman defensive back Chris Fields with one second left in the second quarter.
Both plays became into focus after El Modena running back Nathan De La Vega scored on a 3-yard run 1:02 into the fourth quarter to trim the Cougars lead to 21-14.
But Spencer answered with a 61-yard scoring drive. He scored on a 9-yard TD run but sparked the possession with a 32-yard completion to Saavedra.
“His vision and decision making are really top notch, and so is his ball velocity,” Curtis said of Spencer, who plays shortstop, center fielder and occasionally pitches in baseball.
Linebacker Jake Beisel recorded consecutive tackles in the third quarter to held anchor the Capistrano Valley defense. Trey Schild had a sack while Mauricio Linares added a safety.
El Modena (4-5, 2-2) graduated 18 starters after last season but appears in contention to finish third in the league.
The Vanguards close against Cypress (3-5, 0-3) next week.
“It’s been a good season,” said El Modena coach Matt Mitchell, whose team received 126 yards rushing from QB Ethan Sorenson.