Capistrano Valley Upsets Edison : Football: Geiss rushes for 287 yards to lead Cougars to a 31-18 victory over fifth-ranked Edison.

Dan Geiss, gasping for air and basking in the limelight, tried to play it humble. There was no need to.

All he had done was salvage Capistrano Valley from early-season chaos by rushing for 287 yards in a 31-18 upset of Edison Thursday at Westminster High School. Geiss ran over, around and through Orange County’s fifth-ranked team, scoring two touchdowns and one two-point conversion.

It was an effective tourniquet for the Cougars, who appeared well on their way to a second consecutive defeat.

“I guess mentally, I was really into it tonight,” Geiss said. “But the line did a great job of opening holes.”

Geiss, who was hampered by a sore hamstring for the last two weeks, took it from there.

He averaged 15.9 yards per carry and had four runs of more than 30 yards. He also caught five passes for 36 yards.

All in only his second varsity game.

“We knew Dan had some ability,” Coach Eric Patton said. “We saw him on the freshman and sophomore level. But you never know what to expect from a kid in a varsity game. Dan even surprised me tonight.”

Geiss had two long touchdown runs that helped the Cougars overcome a 10-0 deficit.

He scored on a 31-yard run to give the Cougars (1-1) a 17-10 lead. On their next possession, he burst up the middle, broke two tackles, then dodged another defender for a 90-yard scoring run.

“I saw one guy in front of me and a lot of green grass behind him,” Geiss said. “I just had to beat him.”

The long run seemed to solidify the Cougars, who were coming off a 20-0 loss to Irvine. In that game, they made mistake after mistake, which led to points.

“We’re a young team and we had some problems last week,” Patton said. “But no one was pushing the panic button.”

That may be, but Patton’s finger might have been poised over it one quarter into Thursday’s game.

A high snap, over the head of punter Greg Payne, set up a one-yard run by Chet Van Horn (94 yards rushing) that gave the Chargers (1-1) a 7-0 lead. It was 10-0 after a 37-yard field goal by Kevin Bever.