PREP FOOTBAL PLAYOFFS : BIG FIVE : Long Beach Poly vs. Edison : Jackrabbits’ Fierce Defense Will Be a Test for Angelovic

Edison High School of Huntington Beach reached the Southern Section’s Big Five Conference football championship game by defeating a Westminster team that had beaten five league champions and had given up an average of 12.2 points a game.

Edison scored its 7-3 victory in last Friday’s semifinal game at Orange Coast College, denying Westminster points three times inside the Edison 10-yard line in the fourth quarter.

Sighs of relief were brief. With the win came the news that Long Beach Poly had beaten Huntington Beach Marina, 7-6, in the other semifinal. Edison had slipped past one threatening defense, only to faced another.

Long Beach Poly will go into Friday night’s final at Anaheim Stadium with a reputation for perhaps the best defense in the Southern Section. It appears to be well deserved.

The Jackrabbits (11-1) didn’t have a touchdown scored against their defense in the first eight games of the season. They have intercepted 17 passes and have given up an average of just 43.2 yards rushing a game.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Edison Coach Bill Workman said. “Their defense is better than Westminster’s. They have legitimate, major college speed, and they’re larger.”

And, the Jackrabbits have free safety Mark Carrier, who Workman refers to as “Kenny Easley playing high school football.”

Carrier, a 6-foot 2-inch, 175-pound senior, is one of the Southland’s most sought-after college prospects. He has only four interceptions this season, but that is partly because of how opposing teams elect to deal with him.

Said Long Beach Poly Co-Coach Thomas Whiting: “Most of the offensive strategies we’ve seen have been to concede Mark his area of the field and attack us in other areas. Not many teams have thrown the ball to the middle on us, and the ones who have haven’t been very successful.”

Are you listening, Mike Angelovic? Angelovic has had a successful season as Edison’s quarterback. Last week, he set a school record for single-season passing yardage. The old mark was set by Frank Seurer, who led the Chargers to the 1979 Big Five title and later started for the Los Angeles Express.

Angelovic has completed 144 of 233 passes for 2,216 yards and 21 touchdowns in helping the Chargers to an 11-2 record. He has thrown only six interceptions.

He has reliable and talented receivers in Rick Justice, who has 56 catches for 901 yards, and tight end Ken Griggs, who has 25 for 386. He also has a big-play receiver in Mike Henderson, who averages almost 27 yards a catch.

Keeping defenses honest is sophomore running back Kaleaph Carter, who has rushed for 927 yards and 13 touchdowns in 208 carries.

Whiting said that Poly has have “just enough offensive players to complement a great defense.” Junior running back Leonard Russell has 192 carries for 1,348 yards and 13 touchdowns and has rushed for 563 yards in the last four games.

Quarterback Michael Herring has completed 101 of 212 passes for 1,556 yards and 18 touchdowns but has thrown 15 interceptions. His favorite receivers are Eric Morgan, who has 34 receptions for 562 yards and 7 touchdowns, and Chris Roscoe, 30 for 404 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Tight end Michael Vaughn of Long Beach Poly suffered a slight shoulder separation against Marina and is questionable for the championship game.

Edison nose guard Jim Collins, an All-Sunset League selection, missed the second half of the Westminster game with a bruised shoulder and has not practiced this week. Workman lists him as doubtful for Friday’s game.

Edison beat Colton, Banning of Carson, St. John Bosco and Notre Dame in successive weeks after opening the season with a 14-0 upset loss to El Modena.

“We should have been beaten, 50-0,” Workman said. “We had to go back and do a little reorganization. We needed an attitude adjustment.”

The Chargers’ only other loss was a 24-14 setback to Westminster in the first week of league play. Long Beach Poly’s lone loss came to Millikan, 15-13, in a game that decided the Moore League championship. The Jackrabbits trailed, 9-0, entering the fourth quarter of that game.