Edison Gets Charged Up by Its Nonleague Games
Edison’s record isn’t perfect--the Chargers were beaten by Mater Dei, 42-10--but Coach Dave White is glad he called Bruce Rollinson and asked to renew the rivalry.
“We got our brains beat in by Mater Dei, but playing Mater Dei and Servite made us a better team,” White said after the Chargers defeated Marina, 28-3, on Thursday.
Since giving up 42 points to Mater Dei, and then surviving a 35-33 shootout with Servite, another parochial power, the Charger defense has been pretty good. Led by Seth Prelesnik and A.J. Martinez, it has allowed only 27 points in three games--including 14 against then-No. 2 Los Alamitos. Edison, which allowed 121 points in its first five games, has not allowed a touchdown in its last six quarters.
In the last three games, the Chargers have eight interceptions--three by Martinez, two by Chucky Linman, and one each by Marcus McCutcheon, Stephen Webber and Prelesnik.
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After an 0-3 start, Corona del Mar has won five in a row with its 27-7 victory over Laguna Beach. Only one other time since the Sea Kings won back-to-back section titles in 1988-89 have they won as many as five in a row. They did that in 1998.
Loara finally reached .500 this season. The Saxons’ victory Thursday over Century gave them a 4-4 overall record and a 3-0 mark in the Empire League.
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OK, the game of the year could be the Sunset League showdown on Nov. 9, pitting Esperanza against Edison. If both teams win next week--and Esperanza still has to get past Los Alamitos--both will be undefeated in league and playing for the league title.
But the next night, Nov. 10, could be big for almost every other league with potentially undefeated teams squaring off for the undisputed league title. That’s the night that could feature Villa Park at Foothill, Kennedy at Loara, Western at Brea Olinda, University at Corona del Mar and San Clemente at Mission Viejo.
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Saddleback Valley Christian’s game against Vista Tri-City Christian scheduled for today at St. Margaret’s High has been postponed because of Friday’s rain. The game will be played Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Bucheim Field, located on El Camino Real in San Juan Capistrano, adjacent to the Saddleback Valley Christian campus. It will be played as an eight-man game.
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Los Alamitos’ game against Fountain Valley Friday was delayed five minutes early in the first quarter after it was discovered that the “dial-a-down” marker was stuck on first down. An old-fashioned, black-and-white flip marker that the referee described as “pre-Depression” was retrieved from a storage room and the game continued.
“At a varsity game, that’s a first,” said the referee, who declined to give his name. “At a JV or a freshman game, you see everything.”
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From the timely coincidence department . . .
Rancho Alamitos scored seven second-half touchdowns Friday to beat Santiago 59-25. When Ikaika Maliga capped the scoring with a 42-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, a pyrotechnic show began beyond the end zone at Garden Grove High.
No surprise to locals, who are used to the fireworks displays launched from about three miles away at Disneyland, but the timing Friday was perfect.