Edison maximizes its opportunities
Its leading rusher gained 23 yards. Its quarterback completed fewer than half of his passes. Its offense did not score a touchdown.
And still, Huntington Beach Edison High trounced Los Alamitos, 27-10, on Friday night at Huntington Beach High behind big plays from the Chargers’ defense and special teams.
Edison, ranked No. 3 in the Southland by The Times, scored two touchdowns on turnovers and a third on a blocked field goal to overcome an early deficit against No. 17 Los Alamitos.
“It came down to a couple of weird plays,” Griffins Coach John Barnes said.
The most unusual might have come early in the fourth quarter when Los Alamitos, backed up deep in its own territory, tried a sweep pass from tailback Nick Richardson to quarterback Dylan Lagarde in its end zone.
Edison defensive back Wade Houston said he anticipated the play because he had seen the Chargers’ scout team run it in practice. Houston sprinted toward Lagarde, knocked the ball into the air and made a diving interception in the end zone to give Edison a 27-10 lead.
The Chargers scored another touchdown when defensive back Jeff Trojan blocked a field-goal attempt midway through the third quarter and defensive back Luke Eddy picked up the ball and ran about 80 yards for the score.
Edison’s triumph set up a battle of unbeatens between the Chargers (8-0 overall, 3-0 Sunset League) and archrival Fountain Valley (8-0, 3-0) next Friday at Cal State Fullerton.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve both played for the league championship with no one else around,” Edison Coach Dave White said.
Edison ran only 13 offensive plays in the first half and still led, 13-10, because the Chargers scored 10 points off two Los Alamitos turnovers.
The second turnover came on an interception early in the second quarter that Barnes believed should have been ruled an incompletion. Lagarde completed a short pass to Josh Gasser on the play, and the receiver was immediately leveled by Eddy, forcing a fumble.
Linebacker Steven Malone scooped up the ball and rambled about 40 yards for a score that Barnes contested by coming about 30 yards onto the field before Edison could kick the extra point.
Richardson finished with 134 yards in 36 carries for Los Alamitos (6-2, 1-2), but he had only 35 yards in the second half.
Edison quarterback Matt Viles completed seven of 15 passes for 61 yards and had a team-high 23 yards rushing in two carries. The Chargers finished with 119 yards of offense.
-- Ben Bolch
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Taft’s Goodall taken to hospital after Toreadors’ win
Woodland Hills Taft Coach Matt Kerstetter appropriately described the Toreadors’ 28-21 victory over Woodland Hills El Camino Real as “a game that we had to deal with adversity.”
Senior quarterback Antuan Goodall was taken off the field by an ambulance. Information regarding his condition wasn’t immediately available, but Goodall played the entire game.
Senior tailback D.J. Morgan led Taft’s dominant running game with 19 carries for 171 yards for two rushing touchdowns and one touchdown reception.
But the Conquistadores (7-1, 2-1 in West Valley League) stayed within striking distances because of what Kerstetter described as “a lot of silly mistakes and penalties.”
Nonetheless, the Toreators (5-3, 3-0 in West Valley League) secured the victory, gave El Camino Real its first league loss and prevented the Conquistadores from defeating them for the first time since 1991.
“Someone’s streak had to end,” Morgan said. “We just hoped it wasn’t ours.”
Conquistadores senior quarterback Ryan Meier suffered what Coach Kevin Williams termed “a mild concussion” sometime late in the second quarter and sat out the rest of the game.
-- Mark Medina
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Two-minute drill
A.J. Fernandez rushed for 183 yards and three touchdowns as No. 9 Redlands East Valley (8-0, 5-0) defeated Citrus League foe Rialto Carter (3-5, 2-3). . . . Deontae Cooper had 302 yards and scored one of his three touchdowns on a 49-yard run in the first half to guide Perris Citrus Hill (8-0, 5-0) to a 28-7 victory over Menifee Heritage (5-3, 3-2) in Mountain Pass League play.