PREP FRIDAY: SOUTHERN SECTION FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : Division I : Call It Even, and Maybe Scoreless : Edison Plays Fontana in Battle of 9-1 Defensive Teams

So what would happen if you played a first-round playoff game and nobody scored?

Edison High School’s football team plays at Fontana tonight at 7:30 in the first round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs.

It’s a match that shocked many, considering both teams are 9-1. And it’s a match that might be as offensive as a Benji film festival.

Fontana’s defense gave up 70 points all season--that’s one touchdown per game. More than half of those points, 37 to be exact, were scored by Rubidoux in the last game of the regular season. That 37-0 loss cost Fontana the Citrus League championship, the division’s No. 2 seeding and broke its 23-game winning streak.

“I think the big question for us is can we overcome the adversity of that loss,” Fontana Coach Dick Bruich said. “Are we going to come back strong or have we lost confidence.”

Edison has given up just 79 points this season, and only Fountain Valley has scored more than 14 points. Fountain Valley was the only team to beat Edison, 28-21.

With one loss apiece, neither coach thought there was any chance they’d be meeting this early.

But the fact is these teams are No. 2 representatives from their leagues, and No. 2 teams play each other in the first round.

“After the shock wore off, and that was about 10 minutes, we just had to start preparing for Fontana,” Edison Coach Dave White said.

Edison will start without quarterback Greg Angelovic, who broke his right thumb late in the game against Fountain Valley. Angelovic spent the past 3 weeks with a cast on his right hand, and junior Donnie Smith took over and helped Edison to three victories.

Smith’s numbers were impressive, completing 28 of 47 passes (59.5%) for 417 yards. But he has thrown twice as many interceptions (6) as touchdowns (3). But the fact remains in the last 2 seasons--he was the quarterback of the Edison sophomore team last season--Donnie Smith has gone 13-0 as a starter.

“There’s nothing else to say but that Donnie Smith is a winner,” White said.

But White said Angelovic, who had his cast removed Wednesday, would be available. A strong passing attack might be Edison’s trump card against a Fontana team that doesn’t face any pass-oriented teams in the 8-team Citrus League.

Fontana, defending Big Five champion, relies on the run, but unlike last season when it had the exceptional Derrick Malone, Fontana must rely on four or five backs to pull the load.

In other Division I games:

Westminster (4-6) vs. Loyola (10-0) at Glendale High:

Westminster went 3-2 in Sunset League play, but lost its final regular-season game, 42-7, to second-place Edison. This is not the kind of momentum a team wants going against Loyola, the No. 1 high school team in the nation according to USA Today. Westminster has had plenty of experience against good teams this season, going 0-6 against playoff teams. Loyola has an outstanding defense, which allows 5.2 points per game. Led by defensive tackle Matt Butkus, son of Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus, and defensive back Jimmy Klein, son of former Ram tight end Bob Klein, Loyola has allowed 67 yards rushing and 69 yards passing per game. Those stats aren’t too encouraging for Westminster, which has scored 20 or more points only twice this season.

Mater Dei (5-5) at Long Beach Jordan (4-4-1):

One of the more intriguing first-round matchups. Of Mater Dei’s five losses, four came against teams that were champions or co-champions of their respective leagues. The other loss came against 9-1 Edison. Jordan tied Long Beach Poly, the only blemish on Poly’s 8-0-1 record. Mater Dei is a passing team whose quarterback, Danny O’Neil, threw for 1,728 yards and 17 touchdowns. Receiver Tony Pena set a school record with 1,064 yards on 64 receptions. Jordan relies on junior running back Johnny Robinson, who has rushed for 1,350 yards and 10 touchdowns.

St. Francis (4-6) vs. Fountain Valley (8-2) at Huntington Beach High:

St. Francis has a losing record overall, a 2-2 record in the Del Rey League and has given up more points (163) than it has scored (114). Things don’t look good for St. Francis against a Fountain Valley team that went through the Sunset League undefeated, and is the division’s second-seeded team. Fountain Valley quarterback David Henigan leads the Southern Section with 2,302 yards passing. Henigan, a senior who led Fountain Valley to the Big Five final last season, is completing 59% of his passes (156 of 265) and has thrown 17 touchdown passes. Mike Cook (49 receptions, 917 yards) and Kedric Powe (37, 318) are Henigan’s favorite targets. Eric Sassenberg, who plays tight end and defensive end, is the biggest at 6-4, 220-pounds.

Eisenhower (6-4) vs. Servite (8-2) at Fullerton High:

One of the division’s best defensive teams meets one of the division’s best offensive teams. Eisenhower gave up 12 points per game; Servite averaged 30.4 points a game. Something’s got to give and that something figures to center on Servite running back Derek Brown. Brown, the Southern Section’s leading rusher with 1,711 yards, accounted for most of the Servite offense and 138 of the team’s 304 points. If Eisenhower can stop Brown, it has a great chance of winning. But the only teams able to hold Brown to less than 100 yards this season were Long Beach Jordan and Loyola.