PREP FOOTBALL : Miranda Leads Edison Back From a Dismal First Half to Win, 28-14

Three games into the season, Dave White, Edison High School football coach, is getting a real feel for what his team is all about.

It’s not a good feeling.

For the third week in a row, the Chargers misfired on offense, piled up big yards in penalties and still managed to win. Thursday, it was a 28-14 nonleague victory over Long Beach Jordan at Huntington Beach High School in front of 2,000.

Take a glance at a few of these first-half low lights:

--Edison quarterback Greg Angelovic completed just 2 of 15 pass attempts for 14 yards.

Angelovic, asked what he thought of the first half, said: “I don’t know what it was, but it wasn’t football.”

--Edison was penalized 4 times for 30 yards. If you include the fact that 2 of those penalties nullified 2 long pass plays, totaling 78 yards, that works out to 4 penalties for 108 yards.

“You know, it just wasn’t one guy making mistakes out there,” White said. “They were all taking turns.”

Compare Thursday’s first half with that of last week’s, a 21-14 victory over Capistrano Valley, and you see a definite trend. Edison picked up 64 yards in penalties in the first half against Capistrano Valley. Edison trailed in that game, 6-0, and needed three touchdowns by running back Gus Miranda to win.

“It looks like we’re going to be a second-half team this season,” White said.

And it looks like they’ll do it clinging to Miranda’s back. Miranda gained 159 yards on 28 carries and scored 2 touchdowns Thursday. Miranda has scored 5 of Edison’s 8 touchdowns this season.

The second half also did wonders for Angelovic, who completed all eight of his pass attempts, including two for touchdowns. The first was a 6-yard pass to tight end Bryan Ryder in the third quarter, and the second a 3-yard pass to Patrick Reilly, on fourth and goal, in the fourth quarter. Angelovic finished 10 for 23 for 82 yards.

Jordan scored first in the game when it got the ball at the Edison 4 via a bad snap to Edison punter Mark Zamiska. Quarterback Ted Ramirez scored on a 2-yard run and the conversion kick made it 7-0 with 10:19 left in the first quarter. Jordan held that lead for the duration of the first quarter, which was not bad for a team whose offense gained one yard during that time.

Ramirez was intercepted by Edison linebacker Lamont Peay at the Jordan 13. Peay returned the ball to the 3, and Miranda scored on the next play. The kick failed, so Edison trailed, 7-6, early in the second quarter.

Later, a 35-yard punt return by Patrick Reilly gave Edison the ball at the Jordan 17. Three plays later, Miranda scored on a 4-yard run. A two-point conversion pass made it 14-7.

Jordan tied the score just before the half on Johnny Robinson’s 65-yard run. Robinson, considered one of the Southern Section’s top backs, was held in check by the Edison defense throughout the first half. Take away the 65-yard run, and he gained only 20 yards in 11 first-half carries.

In the second half, Robinson was held down by his own coaching staff, which only allowed him the ball five times. Robinson ended with 130 yards on 18 carries.