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Edison solid in its passing tournament

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The title of the 18th annual Edison Battle at the Beach 7-on-7 Passing Tournament belongs to Mater Dei.

The talented Monarchs survived a few close games Saturday, including a Gold Division semifinal matchup against Edison, and went 7-0 on the day. They won the championship by defeating Valencia of Valencia, 26-14, in the Gold Division final.

It was the third summer tournament title for the Monarchs who were led by quarterback JT Daniels, a sophomore in the fall, and a slew of talented receivers.

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Edison, which rotated at quarterback between senior-to-be Bowen Blake (who also played at safety on defense) and and junior-to-be Griffin O’Connor, went 4-2 in its event. In the morning pool-play session, the Chargers started with wins against JSerra (15-8) and St. Bonaventure (23-6), dropped a close game to Gardena Serra (26-22), then, with its defense coming up with three interceptions on successive series, polished off Bishop Amat (18-2). They finished second to Serra in the pool and advanced to the Gold Division bracket.

In the Gold quarterfinals, Edison handled Corona Centennial, 37-19. The Chargers scored on their first five possessions and intercepted three passes. Senior-to-be Shaun Colamonico, who played both receiver and defensive back, continued his outstanding tournament performance with an interception on Centennial’s opening possession, and the Chargers rolled from there.

In a back-and-forth semifinal, Edison held a late lead on Mater Dei but Monarchs receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown made an outstanding, leaping catch between a pair of Edison defenders to score on a touchdown pass on a third-and-25 play. It gave the Monarchs an eventual, 25-20 win.

Mater Dei previously had held off Corona del Mar (20-18) in pool-play action, and St. John Bosco (26-13) in a Gold bracket quarterfinal.

“That was a great catch,” Edison Coach Dave White said of St. Brown’s impressive reception. “We teach our kids to go high on those plays, and both did a nice job of that, but [St. Brown] just made a heck of a play on, I think, a third-and-25 play.”

Blake and O’Connor each threw 10 touchdown passes in six games. Colamonico had team-highs in touchdown receptions (10) and interceptions (five) and another two-way player, senior-to-be EJ Ginnis, had eight TD receptions, six of the Chargers’ eight extra-point conversions, and an interception.

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“He’s something, boy,” White said of Colamonico. “He and EJ had great tournaments and accounted for 90% of our touchdowns. They played both ways and never came off the field. They’ll do that for us in the fall, too, and also return kicks.

“I also thought Griffin [O’Connor] and Bowen [Blake] played really, really well, and I have a feeling we are going to have two really good quarterbacks this year.”

The tournament featured 20 teams considered to be among the top contenders in the 2016 prep football season.

Oaks Christian defeated St. Bonaventure, 19-13, to win the Silver Division title.

“The competition was unbelievable,” White said. “There were some really talented teams out there and some great athletes who will have big impacts this fall.”

South topples North

The South was victorious against the North in the latest edition of the Orange County All-Star Football Game, winning by a 37-20 score at Orange Coast College Friday.

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Receiver Mitchell Nickovich of Capistrano Valley had two touchdown receptions and Hayden McGinnis of Tesoro kicked three field goals as the South won the 57th classic.

Local players on the South roster included offensive lineman Kristian Crabb of Huntington Beach and defensive lineman Keiti Iakopo and defensive back Kent Swift of Fountain Valley.

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