Key Edison Play Leads to Rout of El Modena, 35-0

Future conversations concerning Edison High School’s 35-0 drubbing of El Modena Friday night will doubtless center on the legs of El Modena’s Ross Bauer, who did not play, and Edison’s Kaleaph Carter, who gained 108 yards.

But don’t fool yourself. This nonleague game played at Fred Kelly Stadium in Orange was determined by the stocky gams of Bruce Dubois. You know, Bruce Dubois . . . the nose guard. The guy whose only attribute as a runner is that his crew cut is aerodynamically correct.

And yet, it was Dubois who stripped the ball from quarterback Brady Whittingham as he attempted to hand off and ran--kind of--79 yards for a touchdown. The play thwarted a promising El Modena drive, put Edison ahead, 21-0, and essentially brought the game to an end with eight minutes left in the third.

“That one play turned the whole game around,” said Dave White, Edison coach. “They were driving, maybe about to cut our lead in half, and then that happens. I looked at their players as they watched Bruce run--they were just stunned.”

Apparently so. On El Modena’s next play from scrimmage, Whittingham ran into running back John Sharpe and fumbled. Edison’s Dean Butler recovered on the El Modena 12. Three plays later, with 5:32 left in the third, David Sherman scored from two yards out.

Soon after, Edison would score when quarterback Michael Henderson completed a 7-yard pass to William Trujillo. Six minutes and 21 points after Dubois’ run, Edison had gone from close game to blowout.

So who is this secret weapon? Well, Dubois set the school record for sacks last season with 14 1/2. But his key to success Friday was the fact that the Edison staff had invested in running classes for lineman this season.

“I just got good penetration on the play, and I was just trying to tackle the guy. All of sudden I had the ball,” Dubois said. “Our coaches had hired this guy named Kevin McNair to teach us how to run, how to run real fast this year. He told us things about locking your knees and stuff. You might laugh, but the stuff works. I was thinking about that the whole time I was running, especially when those guys were nipping my ankles.”

And speaking of ankles, Bauer who gained 1,485 yards last season, sprained his Monday in practice and did not suit up for the game. Apparently the injury was not serious enough to keep him from playing in a meaningful game, but the El Modena staff determined that they’d rather be without Bauer’s services for one nonleague game than risk losing him for the season.

Also missing from the El Modena lineup were lineman Larry Monaco, who was out with a knee injury, and John Carlson, who was out with a bad back.

Edison’s Carter was magnificent, slashing for 108 yards. Carter scored Edison’s first two touchdowns on runs of 2 and 28 yards.

The junior’s only flaw was dropping four passes from Henderson who ended up 7 of 15 for 71 yards. Henderson did a good job of keeping the El Modena offense from keying on Carter with timely completions. It was also a couple of timely shovel passes to Carter that kept the defense from keying on Henderson.

But the offense belonged to Carter.

“I thought Kaleaph looked great tonight,” White said. “We didn’t know Bauer wasn’t going to play until the game started. The guys were looking forward to playing against him. He’s a great player. But I don’t think he would have scored 35 points tonight. I don’t think he would have made that much of a difference tonight.”

Not with the well-schooled legs of Bruce Dubois pumping their way to destiny.