PREP FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS / SOUTHERN CONFERENCE : Hawthorne Goes Deep, Edges El Modena, 14-12

It took Curtis Conway of Hawthorne High School four quarters to do it, but he finally dropped the bomb El Modena feared. Conway’s 51-yard pass to Travis Hannah with a minute left set up Eddie Korn’s 24-yard game-winning field goal, giving Hawthorne a 14-12 victory in a first-round Southern Conference playoff game Friday night.

Korn’s dramatic field goal, coming with six seconds on the clock, cost El Modena (6-5) a chance to upset Hawthorne (9-1-1), the No. 1 representative from the Ocean League.

With a little more than three minutes left in the game, El Modena tailback Pat Leborio scored from three yards out to give the Vanguards a 12-11 lead.

After Conway’s pass to Hannah, Hawthorne tried to run another play from the 10-yard line, but the scoreboard suddenly turned into a jumble of unintelligible symbols. El Modena then called a timeout, and with six seconds left, Korn, who earlier missed field goals of 46 and 31 yards, drilled his game-winner.

Korn had opened the scoring for the Cougars with a 32-yard field goal in the first period.

Conway also connected with Hannah for a 25-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to give Hawthorne an 11-6 lead.

El Modena (6-5) was led by Leborio, who rushed for 125 yards in 31 carries.