Schroeder Awakens the Raiders : Football: His two touchdown passes ignite a moribund offense in 17-7 victory over Chargers, who are booed at San Diego.

The Raiders were in town, and the hometown fans spent much of the evening booing their own team.

In a break from tradition, the Raiders were not the most hated folks in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium Friday night.

The Raiders (3-2) completed their dress rehearsal for the next week’s regular-season opener at Houston with a 17-7 exhibition victory and left San Diego Charger fans behind to boo quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver and chant for backup John Friesz, who ended up earning the starting job.

Quarterback Jay Schroeder ignited a Raider offense that had been lethargic through much of the exhibition season with a 10-yard touchdown pass to running back Marcus Allen in the first quarter and a 19-yard scoring pass to Ethan Horton for a 14-0 halftime lead.

Schroeder, who was 10 for 20 for 130 yards, gave way to Vince Evans after three quarters with his team ahead, 17-0. Before leaving, however, he completed a 46-yard pass to Tim Brown to the Charger three-yard line to set up Jeff Jaeger’s 19-yard field goal.

The Chargers (1-3) were coming off an embarrassing showing against the Rams and a lackluster effort against the San Francisco 49ers. Three days of practice did nothing to sharpen their act.

On their first possession, running back Rod Bernstine was dropped for a four-yard loss by Raider linebacker Thomas Benson. On second down, tight end Arthur Cox was penalized for a false start. After a two-yard gain by Bernstine, running back Ronnie Harmon collided with Tolliver on the handoff exchange and Harmon was knocked down for a one-yard loss.

And the booing began.

The Chargers’ second possession ended with two overthrows by Tolliver that would have evaded Manute Bol.

And the booing continued.

The Raider defense kept the pressure on Tolliver throughout the game, and cornerback Lionel Washington became prime benefactor with a second-quarter interception.

“Our first group was impressive tonight,” Raider defensive end Howie Long said. “It’s a good way to roll into Houston.”

Backup quarterback Friesz relieved Tolliver and found wide receiver Anthony Miller for a 34-yard touchdown with 14:07 to play. Friesz finished 17 for 19 for 210 yards, good enough for Coach Dan Henning to make him the starter.

“I don’t think there is any question what happened out there,” Henning said. “We’ll give John a chance to keep that spark going. He completed passes and Billy didn’t. We gave Billy Joe every opportunity to start this summer. He didn’t play well tonight and neither did our offense.”

The Raider offense moved well with Allen running nine times in the first quarter for 52 yards, including an 18-yard burst on the Raiders’ first scoring drive. Allen took the ball into the end zone after Schroeder had run away from trouble and dumped it to the running back.

Roger Craig went to work on the Raiders’ second-quarter scoring drive and gained 26 yards in five carries. He gained 12 yards up the middle, had his face mask yanked by Charger linebacker Henry Rolling and the Raiders received an additional 15 yards via the penalty to the San Diego 17-yard line.

After linebacker Junior Seau pulled Craig down for a two-yard loss, Schroeder dropped a well-thrown floater into the arms of Horton, who had beaten Rolling.

“Craig bruised his knee and he wanted to go back in, and I told him, ‘No way,’ ” Raider Coach Art Shell said.

Ronnie Lott bruised his back and also had to leave the game, but Shell said, “I think he’ll be OK.”