Edison Rolls to Share of Sunset Title, 51-14

If only Edison High School could execute on extra point attempts. It was about the only thing the Chargers did wrong on Thursday night as they romped to a 51-14 victory over Marina to earn a share of the Sunset League championship.

The Chargers took advantage of six Marina turnovers to score in every quarter, but somehow managed to miss five extra points in recording their highest point total since scoring 55 against Redlands in the Big Five Conference title game in 1979 at Anaheim Stadium.

A crowd of 6,000 at LeBard Stadium was lured in anticipation of a close, exciting game between teams playing for the league championship. Instead, they got the latest in a series that has been all Edison.

Marina had never beaten Edison in 11 years going into the game, and the lastest loss was the worst ever experienced by Viking Coach Dave Thompson. The only consolation for Marina was that it will share the league title with Edison. Both are 4-1 in the six-team league.

Marina (6-3-1) will be the No. 2 seed in the Big Five Conference playoffs. Edison (8-2) will be the league’s No. 1 seed and earn a home game for the first round. The Chargers have LeBard Stadium reserved for next week.

Edison built a 38-7 lead at halftime, totaling 337 yards in offense and capitalizing on four Viking turnovers. Charger tight end Ken Griggs set the tone for the evening on Edison’s fifth play when he threw an option pass to Rick Justice for a 48-yard touchdown pass.

Marina actually had a 7-6 lead after Sean Magula scored on a 60-yard run, but it was all downhill for the Vikings from this point.

The Chargers countered with 32 unanswered points in the next 17 minutes as quarterback Mike Angelovic and sophomore tailback Kalaeph Carter put on a show. Angelovic completed 7 of 8 passes for 164 yards and 2 touchdowns in the half.

Carter, playing his best game since the Chargers defeated Colton in the second week of the season, had 129 yards and 3 touchdowns at the half and teamed with Angelovic on three, shovel-pass plays that caught the Vikings off guard.

“It was one of those nights when we couldn’t do anything wrong and they couldn’t do anything right,” said Bill Workman, Edison coach. “Marina is a good football team. It was just one of those nights.”

The loss prevented Marina from gaining its first outright league title in the school’s 20-year history. The Vikings shared the Sunset League championship with Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley in 1983.

What was so surprising was that Marina’s secondary was shredded the entire game. The Vikings came into the game with the reputation of having one of the best secondaries in the county. They had 16 interceptions and their fine safety, Bill Craft, was tied for the county lead with seven.

But Edison passed for 295 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Vikings and Craft looked like anything but an all-county player when Carter faked him out of making a tackle en route to a 43-yard run for a touchdown in the second quarter.

Marina also had its problems offensively. The Vikings had averaged 32.2 points per game in four previous league outings, but junior quarterback Rick Vanderriet managed only 28 yards and threw 2 interceptions. Magula was the only bright spot, gaining 189 yards on 20 carries.

“We had fumbles, interceptions and breakdowns on defense,” Thompson said. “Nothing went right. But this isn’t the first time we’ve lost our last game of the season going into the playoffs. We’ll come back.”

It was ironic that Edison scored its highest total since the 1979 title game. Six years ago, Edison had two losses going into the 16-team, postseason tournament. The Chargers were beaten by El Modena and then lost their league opener to Newport Harbor.

This year, Edison lost to El Modena and then dropped its first league game to Westminster. Edison may have trouble matching the heroics of its ’79 team in the playoffs, but one thing is certain. The Chargers have Marina’s number with an 11-0-1 record. Edi--Justice 48 pass from Griggs (pass failed)

Mar--Magula 60 run (Lefrancois kick)

Edi--Carter 1 run (run failed)

Edi--Sherman 1 run (pass failed)

Edi--Carter 43 run (kick failed)

Edi--Henderson 60 pass from Angelovic (Thayer kick)

Edi--Carter 7 pass from Angelovic (Thayer kick)

Edi--Sherman 2 run (kick failed)

Edi--Sherman 2 run (Thayer kick)

Mar--Stafford 8 run (Lefrancois kick)

Attendance--6,000