Paramount Prevails, 13-3, Over Surprising El Modena

PARAMOUNT — El Modena may have been the best .300 team in the Southern Section playoffs, where 12 teams with sub-.500 records had berths.

Expectations from a 3-6-1 team aside, El Modena looked better than its record against the Paramount Pirates, but that was not enough for the Vangards, who dropped a 13-3 first-round game Friday night in front of 3,500.

Paramount, the defending division CIF champion, finished first in the San Gabriel League and was ranked 13th in the Times’ poll.

“I think our 3-6-1 record was kind of a sleeper, when you’ve played the types of schools we’ve played,” said El Modena Coach Bill Backstrom, whose 1988 team reached the semifinals.

“When we come to the playoffs, we come ready to play,” Backstrom said.

True, the Vangards, who finished the season 3-7-1, may have opened a few eyes at Paramount, but Pirates running back Leon Neal had a few fine runs of his own as he rushed for 160 yards on 23 carries, including the game-winning touchdown late in the first quarter.

His 11-yard run with 17 seconds remaining in the first quarter was all the Pirates needed.

El Modena cut the margin to 6-3 on a 30-yard field goal by junior kicker Greg Lewis in the second quarter. Lewis could have tied the game at 6-all, but his 27-yard field goal attempt was wide right with 3:58 remaining in the first half.