Edison brings it when it matters most
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In the postgame interview, Dave White, coach at Edison, wanted to give a big shout out to his assistant coaches. You know, the ones who make him look like a genius. You win 15 league titles in 22 seasons, you’re pretty much Einstein.
Shout out!
Actually, White, pictured left with son Hunter last season, was pretty happy with everything and everybody Thursday after Edison’s 47-0 victory over Newport Harbor. Both teams came into the game in a three-way tie for first place with Esperanza (8-1, 3-1), which plays tonight/Friday against Fountain Valley (5-4, 1-3).
Edison closed the regular season with four consecutive victories after a league-opening 13-9 loss to Los Alamitos. That came the week after Edison lost to Mater Dei, 42-14.
White said his assistants and seniors have ‘done an unbelievable job the last four weeks. We were embarrassed, humiliated, beaten against Mater Dei, and we’ve come back and had five really good games in league. I’m really proud of them.’
This senior class was 10-0 as freshmen and now have won a share of three Sunset League titles.
Even if Esperanza beats Fountain Valley to share the league title with Edison, the Chargers will be the league’s first-place entry into the Pac-5 playoffs by virtue of a 9-7 victory over Espy two weeks ago. That’s a huge advantage.
Apart from a couple of turnovers, the Chargers were perfect Thursday. Nick Crissman completed 13 of 18 passes for 199 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Areseo Lakey rushed for two scores, of five and 46 yards, and also caught a 29-yard touchdown pass.
Remarkably, if Edison (7-3, 4-1) lost, it could have finished fourth in league and might have been hard-pressed to earn the division’s lone at-large playoff berth. Newport Harbor is 7-3, 3-2, and holds the tie-breaker advantage over Los Alamitos by virtue of a 31-27 victory two weeks ago.
‘It was pretty much win or go home for us,’ said linebacker Earnie Sagiao. ‘Coaches challenged us, and we stepped up. We knew if we lost, we’d be turning in our pads tomorrow. It was the best we played all year on both sides of the ball.’
-- Martin Henderson
-- Image by Christine Cotter/Los Angeles Times