Edison falls short of second comeback win, losing to Oaks Christian

Griffin O’Connor dealt with a 103-degree fever on Friday. With the muggy conditions in Huntington Beach, the quarterback had a lot to overcome in Edison High’s home opener.

“I was actually throwing up before the game,” O’Connor said. “I didn’t go to school.”

O’Connor didn’t miss the nonleague football game against Westlake Village Oaks Christian.

He didn’t look like his usual self. And he hasn’t played as he did a year ago. Two games into his senior year, O’Connor has thrown five interceptions. He only had six interceptions last season.

Despite the fever and slow start, the Yale commit almost led the Chargers to a second straight comeback win. This time, they fell short.

Oaks Christian picked off O’Connor three times, and it pulled off a 24-19 upset of the top-ranked team in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 poll at Cap Sheue Field.

The Lions (1-1), ranked No. 8, gave Edison (1-1) a chance to possibly win it late. David Atencio picked off Oaks Christian quarterback Josh Calvert’s long third-down pass on the Chargers’ 12 with less than two minutes left. But the standout two-way player had to leave the field because of cramps, and O’Connor didn’t have Atencio’s services at wide receiver on the first five plays.

When Atencio returned, the offense faced a third-and-10 situation on its 44. It turned into third-and-25 because of an Edison holding penalty, then third-and-30 because of a false start.

O’Connor’s first third-down pass was batted down by defensive end by Kayvon Thibodeaux, a 6-foot-6, 230-pounder who is considered the top player in the 2019 recruiting class. On fourth down, O’Connor found Atencio (five catches for 141 yards) near midfield, not enough to keep the chains moving.

Oaks Christian took over with less than a minute remaining, and it ran out the clock. And it looks like the Lions found their quarterback in Calvert. He was one three signal callers to play last week.

A week later, Calvert came off the bench again on the road. He helped the Lions bounce back from last week’s 47-10 loss to West Hills Chaminade, ranked No. 7 in the state by CalHiSports.com, by taking down the state’s No. 17 team in Edison.

“We came out here and the weather was a little bit cooler,” said Calvert, who was happy about not having to play in the hot San Fernando Valley.

Calvert’s passing numbers weren’t impressive. The junior completed nine of 20 passes for 173 yards and one touchdown, and he threw three interceptions, but he got it done.

Three quarterbacks — sophomore Marco Siderman, senior Trae Johnson and Calvert — combined to throw for 80 yards last week, as Oaks Christian looked to find a replacement for Florida commit Matt Corral, who transferred to Long Beach Poly for his senior year.

The 6-3, 200-pound Calvert also rushed for 52 yards. Going to receiver Bryce Farrell is what made Calvert successful most of the time.

Farrell finished with seven receptions for 183 yards and a touchdown. Farrell caught a 22-yard pass from Calvert in the third quarter, giving Oaks Christian a 17-6 lead.

The touchdown came after O’Connor’s second interception, which bounced off Atencio and into the hands of linebacker Seif Awad inside Edison’s 40-yard line.

“There [were] a lot of plays that I wish I had back,” said O’Connor, who completed 13 of 31 passes for 226 yards.

One throw that got away from O’Connor was midway through the fourth quarter. The Chargers trailed 17-9, and on third-and-goal from the opponent’s four, his pass to the left to running back Jack Carmichael was too high.

Edison brought in Jack Morrell to attempt his fourth field goal, and he converted it from 21 yards to make it a five-point game. Morrell also made field goals from 41, 37 and 25 yards.

“I wish we could’ve capitalized more in the red zone,” said O’Connor, who praised the play of Carmichael.

The Chargers relied on Carmichael a lot, rushing him 30 times and the senior produced 154 yards. The drive where they didn’t pound Carmichael was on the quick one that cut Oaks Christian’s lead to 24-19 with about 2 ½ minutes to go. O’Connor hit McCade Barrett for a 26-yard touchdown.

They got the back in 41 seconds, after stopping running back Zach Charbonnet on first and second down. Charbonnet did rip a 65-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, and the junior finished with 15 carries for 104 yards and two touchdowns.

The Chargers just couldn’t find the end zone for a second time.

“He’s pretty sick, but, you know, he competed,” Edison coach Jeff Grady said of O’Connor, who a year ago passed for 3,600 yards and 37 touchdowns, earning the Sunset League MVP award. “It comes down to executing and doing your job as a team. We played really good defense tonight. We turned the ball over on offense, and you cannot do that. You turn the ball over against a team like this, and they got players everywhere.”

Oaks Christian 24, Edison 19

Oaks Christian…….3 7 7 7 — 24

Edison……………….3 3 3 10 — 19

FIRST QUARTER

OC – Culhane 22 FG, 7:54.

E – J. Morrell 25 FG, :58.

SECOND QUARTER

OC – Charbonnet 65 run (Culhane kick), 11:23.

E – J. Morrell 37 FG, 6:37.

THIRD QUARTER

OC – Farrell 22 pass from J. Calvert (Culhane kick), 8:26.

E – J. Morrell 41 FG, 2:02.

FOURTH QUARTER

E – J. Morrell 21 FG, 6:13.

OC – Charbonnet 8 run (Culhane kick), 3:24.

E – Barrett 26 pass from O’Connor (J. Morrell kick), 2:28.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

OC – Charbonnet, 15-104, 2 TDs.

E – Carmichael, 30-154.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

OC – J. Calvert, 9-20-3, 173, 1 TD.

E – O’Connor, 13-31-3, 226, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

OC – Farrell, 7-183, 1 TD.

E – Atencio, 5-141.

david.carrillo@latimes.com

Twitter: @ByDCP