White’s farewell tour
The Dave White farewell tour as Edison High’s football coach continues this week. One of the things White said he would miss after he retires this year is coaching against guys like Mater Dei’s Bruce Rollinson and Newport Harbor’s Jeff Brinkley.
Rollinson and Brinkley are two of the most successful football coaches in Orange County, ranking No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, for wins in the county. Rollinson has 265 victories during his 28 years in charge of the Monarchs, and Brinkley has won 239 times in his 31 years with the Sailors.
White and Brinkley both began coaching at Edison and Newport Harbor in 1986. Twenty years later, their programs began playing one another every season in the Sunset League.
Last week, White and Brinkley met for the 11th straight time, and White’s Chargers won the league opener, 48-7. While White went 4-15 against Rollinson, he has gotten the better of Brinkley, winning every time.
The result also gave White his 230th win, the sixth-best total in the county.
“We’re both good friends. We have a lot in common. We’re kind of old-school guys,” White said of him and Brinkley. “We stayed at one school [in the county] forever. I respect the heck out of him. We’re the two longest [active coaches] coaching at the same school they started at [in the county].”
EDISON RECEIVER UPDATE
While standout wide receiver Shaun Colamonico missed his second straight game with a hairline fracture of the fibula, the Chargers saw the return of another receiver.
David Atencio, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament four months ago, played for the first time last week. The junior caught two passes for 16 yards.
White said Atencio’s quick recovery is due to a surgery he underwent overseas.
“Do you remember Ryan Rippon from Newport [Harbor]?” White said of the former Sailor running back who tore his ACL the summer before his senior season in 2005. “[Atencio] went to Austria [like Rippon did] and had that [same] surgery 12 weeks ago. He was a starter last year as a sophomore. He’s a very good basketball player, too.”
Having Atencio, who finished with 33 receptions for 536 yards and two touchdowns a year ago, back can only bode well for Edison.
White said the Chargers (5-1, 1-0 in league) wouldn’t have Colamonico for their showdown with Los Alamitos (4-2, 1-0) on Friday. The winner most likely wins the league title.
Prime Ticket will televise the 7:30 p.m. game from Veterans Stadium in Long Beach. With Colamonico not ready, the TV audience will miss Edison’s best two-way starter in Colamonico, who also plays cornerback.
“[Colamonico] actually got hurt in the Canyon game,” White said of the nonleague game the Chargers won, 38-19, on Sept. 9. “We didn’t really know what was wrong. We thought it was just a calf [injury], so he played like a quarter [the following week at] San Juan Hills. Then we got it X-rayed, and it was like, ‘OK. [This is serious].’ He’s probably going to be out another two weeks.”
LOCALS RANKED
Five football programs in the area are in the latest CIF Southern Section polls.
Edison (5-1 overall), ranked No. 2 in Division 3, and Corona del Mar, which went into Thursday 5-1, No. 4 in Division 4, stayed in their respective spots from last week. Ocean View (4-2) moved up from No. 10 to No. 7 in Division 13, and Brethren Christian jumped up a spot to No. 7 in Division 10.
Huntington Beach (3-3) cracked the top 10 in Division 7, coming in at No. 8.
In the girls’ volleyball polls, Huntington Beach jumped up a spot to No. 4 in Division 1, while Edison moved up a spot to No. 5.
Sage Hill went up three spots to No. 2 in Division 3.
--
David Carrillo Peñaloza covers football and girls’ volleyball in the fall.
Twitter: @ByDCP
