Ernie Wilson

School: El Modena

Sport: Football

Position: Tailback

Class: Senior

The screen pass from Matt Mitchell to Wilson was designed to gain no more than 25 yards. But as has become his custom this season, Wilson broke a tackle in the secondary and turned a sizable gain into a long one. It turned into a 56-yard touchdown that gave El Modena its first lead of the game, 21-14, over Foothill Thursday. Wilson would later score another touchdown--his third of the game--on a 40-yard run. He caught four passes for 106 yards and rushed for 177 yards in the Vanguards’ 34-14 victory. “He’s not only fast, he’s strong,” El Modena Coach Bill Backstrom said. “He breaks tackles all the time. Rather than settle for four or five yards, he’s always looking to break the big one. The linemen love blocking for him because they know he can take it all the way on any play.”

Other top performers:

Chris Baedeker, who caught four passes for 151 yards and three touchdowns in Laguna Hills’ 34-28 victory over Costa Mesa.

Jeff Byrd, who rushed for 225 yards and four touchdowns in Rancho Alamitos’ 41-13 victory over Kennedy.

Sam Grayeli, who scored 12 goals in Costa Mesa water polo victories over Brea-Olinda, Trabuco Hills and Marina. Grayeli scored five in Costa Mesa’s 8-7 victory over Trabuco Hills, which all but wrapped up a seventh consecutive Pacific Coast League title.

Michael Love and Mike Moreno, Katella runners who finished fifth and sixth, respectively, leading the Knights to a third-place finish in the team sweepstakes race at the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational. They finished in 15 minutes 27 seconds and 15:28 for three miles, respectively--the fastest times for Orange County runners.