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High School Football: Edison comes up big against Los Al

Edison High’s Nick Warren celebrates after Los Alamitos was stopped on four down on its final possession of the game.
Edison High’s Nick Warren celebrates after Los Alamitos was stopped on four down on its final possession of the game.
( Scott Smeltzer / Scott Smeltzer | Daily Pilot )
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LONG BEACH — The last three times Edison High’s Dave White coached against Ray Fenton, the scores have been lopsided, all in favor of the Chargers.

Fenton guided Fountain Valley the previous three years, a stretch in which they played rival Edison in the Bell Game. Fenton is in his first year at Los Alamitos now, and he and his new football team faced White and the Chargers.

Days before Friday’s game, White guaranteed the fourth meeting between him and Fenton would be unlike the past three.

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“It will be close,” White said. “It’s going to come down to probably whoever has the ball last.”

White was right. A one-point game at halftime turned into a one-possession game late.

In a battle to stay in first place in the Sunset League, this one went down to the wire. The Chargers made a couple of defensive stands in the final 3½ minutes to hold on for a 17-9 win at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.

The Chargers (6-1, 2-0 in league) stayed atop the league with Huntington Beach. The No. 2-ranked team in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 poll kept Dylan Laurent, Los Alamitos’ top playmaker, in check for most of the night.

At one point, it seemed like Laurent might play for Edison. His older brother, Christian, used to play at Edison, before he transferred to Estancia for the 2013 season.

The younger Laurent also left Estancia after the 2014 season, taking his talents to Los Alamitos. He was unable to show off his abilities against Edison.

The Chargers held Laurent to 19 rushing yards and minus eight receiving yards. They tackled him for losses seven times, five coming in the second half.

Edison’s defense stopped No. 7 Los Alamitos (4-3, 1-1) while the Griffins were in the red zone. On fourth-and-nine on the 19, quarterback Hayden Smith’s pass fell incomplete with 3:20 left.

Los Alamitos got one more chance. With 90 seconds to go, the Griffins took over on their 40-yard line. After a 13-yard play, defensive end Kenny Carmichael and linebacker Luke Hoggard sacked Smith for a three-yard loss, leaving the offense at midfield.

The next play defensive linemen Parker Thomas and Melvin Bowden dropped Smith for a six-yard sack. The Chargers pressured Smith again on third down, and he barely got the pass off, only to be called for intentional grounding.

Faced with a fourth-and-39 on their 24, the Griffins tried a trick play. Smith had the ball first and he gave it to Laurent, who then gave it back to Smith, who fumbled. Edison linebacker Mateo Gallego recovered the ball on the 15-yard line with 12 seconds remaining.

It was over, as the defending league champion Chargers blanked Los Alamitos in the second half. They won their seventh straight league contest dating back to last year.

The Chargers didn’t need much offense, a 26-yard rushing touchdown by Jack Carmichael in the second quarter and a 12-yard passing touchdown from quarterback Griffin O’Connor to wide receiver EJ Ginnis in the third quarter.

The Griffins got off to a rousing start. They covered 76 yards in seven plays, capping the opening drive with a three-yard touchdown run by Keanu Norman (19 carries for 73 yards).

The drive featured all runs, the first two by Laurent. He picked up 12 yards on first down, and 23 yards a play later. The only mishap came on the extra-point kick, which the Griffins missed.

The Chargers also tried to go Laurent’s way. They challenged the cornerback, and Laurent broke up a pass near the sideline. On the next play, on third-and-15, Laurent looked like the intended receiver on a deep pass that fell incomplete inside the red zone.

Edison reached the red zone for the first time at the 3:13 mark in the opening quarter. O’Connor’s 17-yard pass to receiver McCade Barrett and a personal-foul penalty on Los Alamitos put the Chargers on the 11. They couldn’t get in the end zone, sending in Jack Morrell for a 25-yard field-goal try. Morrell’s attempt had no chance with Laurent coming off the edge to block it.

Los Alamitos entered the second quarter up, 6-0. The lead didn’t hold up.

The Chargers pinned Los Alamitos on its one on Morrell’s 45-yard punt. The defense only allowed the Griffins to gain a yard, and they punted, giving Edison great field position.

Ginnis returned the punt 17 yards to set up the Chargers on the 26. Two plays later, Carmichael, who finished with 12 carries for 77 yards, ran up the middle, taking it in for a 26-yard touchdown. Morrell’s PAT made it Edison, 7-6, with 8:34 left in the first half.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Chargers elected not to kick Laurent’s way for the second time. Morrell’s pooch kick took a bounce away from the Griffins near the 20-yard line, and Edison’s Rex Reeves pounced on the live ball on Los Alamitos’ 25-yard line.

The Chargers got as far as the eight. With a third-and-goal situation, O’Connor had a wide-open Ginnis in the end zone, but the pass went off Ginnis’ hands and Edison settled for a field goal. Morrell converted this 25-yard field goal, extending Edison’s lead to 10-6 midway through the second quarter.

Seventeen plays are how many it took Los Alamitos to respond. The scoring drive was long, starting on the Griffins’ 32 and ending on the opponent’s 17. They brought on Zach Ruiz and he converted a 34-yard field goal to cut Edison’s lead to 10-9 with 63 seconds remaining before halftime.

That was as close as Los Alamitos got to Edison the rest of the night, as White beat a Fenton-led team for the fourth straight year.

Sunset League

Edison 17, Los Alamitos 9

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Edison 0 – 10 – 7 – 0 — 17

Los Alamitos 6 – 3 – 0 – 0 — 9

FIRST QUARTER

LA – Norman 3 run (kick failed), 10:30.

SECOND QUARTER

E – J. Carmichael 26 run (Morrell kick), 8:34.

E – Morrell 25 FG, 5:57.

LA – Ruiz 34 FG, 1:03.

THIRD QUARTER

E – Ginnis 12 pass from O’Connor (Morrell kick), 7:11.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

E – J. Carmichael, 12-77, 1 TD.

LA – Norman, 19-73, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

E – O’Connor, 14-30-0, 164, 1 TD.

LA – Smith, 10-24-0, 79.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

E – Ginnis, 4-62, 1 TD.

LA – Magana, 2-29.

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