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Chase Jones helps push Yorba Linda football past El Modena

October 7, 2023

YORBA LINDA — Yorba Linda overcame an early deficit and gained over 300 yards on the ground to extend its winning streak to four games with a 34-17 victory over El Modena on Friday night at Yorba Linda High.

The Mustangs’ rushing attack was led by senior Chase Jones, who gained 241 yards on 23 carries with three touchdowns.

“I thought he was awesome tonight, he was running harder than I’ve seen him run all year,” Yorba Linda coach Jeff Bailey said. “He was refusing to get tackled, he did a great job, a lot of those yards came on his own.”

El Modena quarterback Xzavior Guess opened the scoring with a 56-yard TD run as the dual-threat signal-caller made an immediate impact on the game.

A personal foul penalty on the Mustangs gave the Vanguards a new set of downs instead of third-and-long and Guess took advantage on the very next play with an impressive run.

“Our defense played hard tonight,” Bailey said “They made a few adjustments and got used to the speed of the quarterback (Guess). He’s a heck of a player who can make you look stupid, and he did on that first drive, but our guys tightened up and played well the rest of the time.”

El Modena coach Matt Mitchell liked what he saw on that opening drive but felt his team left points on the board on their next possession.

After Yorba Linda (5-2) tied the game 7-7 on Jones’ 16-yard run in the first quarter. El Modena went on a 17-play drive and got all the way to the Mustangs 1-yard line thanks to a QB keeper by Guess.

The Mustangs were able to keep the Vanguards out of the end zone and El Modena (3-4) settled for an 18-yard field goal by Troy Parker that made it 10-7.

“Us not scoring (a touchdown) there was critical,” Mitchell said. “It was a little bit of a shootout there in the beginning but once you get behind in a shootout it’s tough to come back.”

Yorba Linda took a 14-10 lead early in the second quarter on Jones’ 2-yard run and then added to its margin with a 10-yard run by Cole Nerio.

Mustangs quarterback Holden Nagin was an efficient 9-of-11 passing for 115 yards and a 4-yard TD pass to Jon Silvestri. Jake Winners caught three passes for 73 yards.

Guess finished with 114 yards rushing and two TDs and also had 167 yards passing.

Guess’ favorite target was Connor Smith, who recorded five catches for 82 yards, while Christian Tafua caught two passes for 24 yards.

The Mustangs begin defense of their Crestview League title next week against Brea Olinda. El Modena will face Esperanza in a North Hills opener.

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