Football: When these teams play, he’s usually there

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Dave White has missed only three games in the 40 years since Edison and Fountain Valley started their football rivalry, and he had a pretty good excuse.

He was playing quarterback for Oregon State.

Otherwise, White has been a constant at the ‘Battle for the Bell,’ even attending the first game in 1969 as an eighth-grader who knew he was bound for Edison the following year. That was when the Chargers upset the more established Barons with a roster that included no seniors.

‘That kind of got the ball rolling in the rivalry,’ said White, who has been Edison’s coach for 24 years. ‘Sometimes the best team doesn’t always win.’

One of White’s favorite memories came when the teams met for the Big Five Conference championship at then-Anaheim Stadium in 1980. It was White’s first year as a varsity assistant coach at Edison.

The Chargers trailed 14-0 before rallying for two fourth-quarter scores and a two-point conversion to surge ahead. Assuming a victory was secure, White and fellow assistant Russ Pernell left their spot in a stadium box to come onto the field, only to learn that Fountain Valley had reached the two-yard line.

The Barons could not score, however, and the Chargers held on for the victory.

‘It was such a high, then a low, then a high,’ White said of the mix of emotions as the wild finish unfolded.

Edison (8-0 overall, 3-0 Sunset League), ranked No. 3 in the Southland by The Times, goes for its fifth consecutive victory over the No. 15 Barons (8-0, 3-0) in the series Friday at Cal State Fullerton. It is the first time in the history of the series that both teams will come in untied and unbeaten.

--Ben Bolch