It All Adds Up to a Victory for Esperanza

You had to be a math whiz to keep track of the three-hour Sunset League marathon staged by Edison and Esperanza Thursday night at Huntington Beach High.

There were 73 pass attempts, 44 completions. A combined 709 passing yards and 949 total yards, plus nine touchdowns.

Throw in 41 first downs, three interceptions, three field goals, a two-point conversion and just a handful of penalties.

Esperanza won, 52-35, but not without a struggle by the banged-up Chargers, who for all intents and purposes, were eliminated from playoff consideration.

“These guys always play us tough and it usually comes down to the end,” Esperanza quarterback Grant Wagner, who completed 20 of 26 passes for 353 yards and three touchdowns. said.

Tough, yes. But this one didn’t come down to the end. Esperanza (7-1, 2-1) erased an early field goal by the Chargers (3-5, 0-3) and scored the first three times it had the ball for a 17-3 first quarter. Edison was twice stopped inside the Esperanza 25 in the first half and that gave the Aztecs a chance to take a 24-13 halftime advantage.

Still, Edison quarterback Jason Kripavicius, who completed one of his first seven passes and was also intercepted once during that span, recovered to rally the Chargers several times. Continually throwing underneath Esperanza’s coverage, Kripavicius passed for 301 yards and three touchdowns. He completed 24 of 47 passes with two interceptions including with a little less than three minutes to go and the Chargers marching at the Esperanza 35-yard line.

Earlier in the game, Kripavicius had rallied the Chargers to within 10 points, 38-28, with a two-yard scoring toss to Brendon Cornell with three minutes 23 seconds left in the third quarter.

After Wagner fired 13 yards for a score to Aaron Hill with 9:06 to play, Kripavicius and Cornell hooked up on a three-yard pass for a touchdown to make it, 45-35.

But Matt Parrish stepped in front of Kripavicius’ pass at the 35, picked it off and ran back to the Charger two. Jarrod Schuster’s one-yard plunge for a score, one of his four touchdowns in the game, two plays later was just too much for Edison to overcome.

Schuster, who scored on runs of one, 59, 26 and one yards, said he couldn’t explain while the Aztecs had difficulty shaking the Chargers. He finished with 168 yards in 22 attempts.

“Usually the passing game opens up the running game,” Schuster said. “You start to find the holes and go.”

Wagner said he felt better than he has all season.

“Things were just clicking tonight,” he said.