Tempers Flare on Sidelines as Edison Melts Down Ocean View : Chargers’ Workman and Seahawks’ Gaytan Get Into Cross-Field Shouting Match at End of Game

With a minute to play and his team comfortably ahead by three touchdowns, Bill Workman, Edison High football coach, replaced his third-string players with the starting unit Friday night.

Were the Chargers trying to run up the score against overmatched Ocean View High?

You bet they were.

“You keep cheap-shotting us and we’ll keep scoring on you,” Workman shouted across the field at Ocean View High Coach Karl Gaytan in the waning moments of the Chargers’ 28-7 rout at Westminster High.

“I can’t believe you have the first team in,” Gaytan yelled back as the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard.

Workman was upset over a flagrant late hit following Ocean View’s only touchdown and Gaytan, who hadn’t seen the infraction from his side of the field, was fuming because he thought the Chargers were trying to pour it on his 1-6 Seahawks. Their verbal outburst enlivened a dull second half that was anticlimactic after the Chargers’ first-half domination.

“I didn’t see it; I was just happy we scored,” Gaytan said. “That’s our first TD in three weeks.

“We were trying to save our pride. They’re trying to catch up on the stats they didn’t get against Westminster last week. We were trying to get our junior varsity players in.”

Countered Workman: “You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. We were trying to be nice. We played everybody but then things started happening that weren’t good.

“Those were some of the most blatant cheap shots I’ve ever seen. We weren’t trying to embarrass anybody . . . except at the end when we wanted another score.”

More than bad blood between two city rivals, the incident was just a venting of frustration by two teams heading in opposite directions. Ocean View, 0-2 in league play, has been blanked four times this year and appeared to be heading for another shutout before Jeff Darling exploded for a 70-yard touchdown on a screen pass play from reserve quarterback David Stocks.

Edison, smarting from last week’s 24-14 loss to Westminster, was mad, hungry and intent on getting back into the Sunset League race.

After both coaches had time to cool off, they had kinder words for each other. But for Workman, the verbal exchange personified his approach to the game these days.

He’s not about to play Mr. Nice Guy any more.

“We rotated five linemen we could call starters but not of which has the job,” he explained. “It’s kind of late in the season to be undecided.

“We saw some quickness on defense and we had a lot of people in on tackles which means we were moving. That’s what’s been missing the last four weeks. Some people were in there for their last game if they didn’t shape up.”

Judging from the way they started out, the Chargers have gotten Workman’s message: shape up or sit down. The Chargers dominated the game, offensively and defensively, and before Ocean View’s late touchdown, which came with 1:20 remaining, it appeared that the Seahawks might finish with negative offensive statistics.

Edison scored the first time it had the ball, with Eric Thayer kicking a 25-yard field goal four minutes into the game.

After an exchange of fumbles, Edison concluded a short drive when Kaleaph Carter opened the second quarter with a one-yard touchdown run. Joe Morris returned an interception 47 yards for a score mid way through the second quarter and Mike Smyser scored on an 11-yard run just before intermission to give the Chargers a commanding 22-0 halftime edge.

Carter, who had a consistent, if not flashy, running night, added a six-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

In fact, the only thing Edison couldn’t do right was convert the point-after-touchdown. The normally sure-footed Thayer missed one kick and had another blocked. The Chargers also came up empty on a two-point try.