Mistakes Are Fatal to Edison : Capistrano Valley’s Defense Forces Six Fumbles in 37-10 Rout

Capistrano Valley’s defense sacked, harried, rushed and intercepted Edison quarterback Donnie Smith while defeating the Chargers, 37-10, Friday night in front of 1,400 at Capistrano Valley.

Damon Psaros and Dave Josker each sacked Smith twice. Tackle Mike Christian and linebacker Motor Mosebrook, whose engine was in high gear, also dominated defensively for the Cougars.

“I knew they were good. They had eight starters back on defense,” Edison Coach Dave White said. “I told the kids (Capistrano) might be the best defense they would face all year.”

White was disappointed in his team’s intensity, saying, “We played with no emotion. They were a real good football team that came to play and we were an average football team that didn’t come to play. Maybe now people will stop saying we’re number two (in Division I).”

The Chargers, already lacking in depth, were without wide receiver/defensive back Mike Cunningham and center David Rider, who were injured in practice.

Guard Jeff Aselin, filling in at center, and Smith had trouble on the snaps, with Smith bobbling the ball numerous times, and fumbling it three times. The Chargers had a total of six fumbles. Capistrano Valley recovered two of them.

Capistrano’s Chris Tarnowski recovered one of the fumbles at the Edison 42 late in the first quarter. After a four-yard run by Paul Shaheen and a 29-yard pass from Tony Solliday to Dan Zamora, Shaheen ran 25 yards for a touchdown to put Capistrano Valley ahead, 12-0.

Offensively, the Cougars moved the ball freely with the help of a few key Edison penalties sustaining them whenever their drives came close to faltering. They scored on their first three possessions.

Solliday completed 11 of 20 passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Zamora was on the receiving end of five of them for 59 yards and a touchdown. Dave Poltl caught three passes for 59 yards and a touchdown.

Capistrano Valley Coach Eric Patton was surprised his team dominated. “We were very fortunate to jump out in the lead like we did and score as quickly as we did. I knew we were quick and had some team speed, but I did not know how well we would match up with their size and running game.”

Capistrano Valley limited running back Shane Sherman to 65 yards in 15 carries.

Edison quarterback Smith rushed for minus 30 yards in nine carries. He completed 18 of 30 passes for 194 yards, one touchdown and was intercepted once.

To add insult to injury, the Edison players and coaches had their clothing stolen from the visitors’ locker room at Capistrano Valley sometime during the second half. “We already lost our tails tonight, then we lost everything in the locker room,” White said. “We got everything ripped off. We lost all our jewelry, rings, money, wallets. It was all there at halftime.”