Slow start too much to overcome

The Edison High football team stood silently at midfield late Saturday night, awash in the aftermath of a big game as a steady, light rain brought a close to their 2006 season.

The Chargers had made it to the big stage — the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division football championship game — and took on Orange Lutheran in the nightcap of a title-game tripleheader at the Home Depot Center in Carson.

Edison got off to a slow start, but fought back in the second half to ultimately lose, 30-20, to the Lancers.

Although disappointment set in with the Chargers at the final gun, the loss and the rain could do little to dampen a season that exceeded expectations.

“I’m extremely proud of our players,” said Edison Coach Dave White, who last took the program to the title game in 2001. “We didn’t play well in the first half but did a nice job of coming back and fighting to get back into the game in the second half.

“We were a little bit outmanned by an excellent Orange Lutheran team that has talent, size and speed. They’re a great team.”

Orange Lutheran (13-1) was selected Sunday to play in the inaugural CIF State Championship Division II Bowl Game.

The Lancers will meet Palo Alto (12-1) at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Home Depot Center.

“It’s not surprising at all,” White said of Orange Lutheran’s selection to play in the state final.

“They are a very deserving team and I think that they’ll win that game.”

Edison, which finished the year 11-3, trailed, 14-0, at the half and, 23-0, in the third quarter before getting its offense going.

The Chargers offense moved the ball up and down the field throughout the first half, but a fumble and interception deep in Orange Lutheran territory negated potential scoring drives.

“I think we came out flat-footed,” Edison receiver and defensive back Dominique Vinson said. “We moved the ball, but those two turnovers hurt our chances early. I think that if we played the first half the way that we played in the second half, it could have been a whole different ballgame.”

Despite not being able to complete a comeback, Saturday’s Pac-5 final left a lasting impression on the Chargers.

For quarterback Nick Crissman, the junior gained valuable big-game experience against a veteran Orange Lutheran defense that had him on the run most of the night and sacked him six times. Crissman, though, managed to finish the night with 291 passing yards and threw touchdown passes to Vinson, Justin Venus and Hunter White.

He became Edison’s single-season record holder for passing yards in a season following Saturday’s performance, Dave White said.

Crissman and Venus teamed up on a 7-yard pass for Edison’s first score of the night. In the fourth quarter, Vinson out-jumped Lancers defensive back Nick Rodieck in the corner of the end zone from 13 yards out, and Hunter White capped the game’s scoring with an acrobatic grab on a 25-yard pass play that finished with White cradling the ball while on his back in the end zone with 35 seconds to play.

White and Crissman also teamed up on a two-point conversion pass following Edison’s second touchdown.

“They were pounding Nick [Crissman] all night, but he hung tough and finished strong,” Dave White said.

It was difficult for Martin Coleman to watch Crissman being chased up and down the field, but Coleman was powerless on the Edison sideline.

During a practice session the week leading up to Saturday’s championship game, the USC-bound Coleman injured himself running a drill and fractured his right tibia. The 6-foot-6, 295-pound offensive left tackle was in a cast and on crutches Saturday. He assisted Chargers offensive line coach Kyle Murphy during the game.

“I can’t tell you how difficult it was to not be able to play in our biggest game of the year,” Coleman said. “Man, it was hard to just stand there and watch our offensive line go up against their D-line. There was a feeling of anger in me that just wanted to be released out on that field, but I couldn’t do anything.

“Our O-line did a great job. I’m really proud of them, and I love those guys.”

While Edison began the game slowly, Orange Lutheran came out blazing behind senior quarterback Aaron Corp, who guided the Lancers to consecutive scoring drives on their second and third possessions of the game. Corp, the game’s MVP, threw for 170 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more scores.

After the game, Coleman said he received a hug from Corp.

Coleman, Corp and Michael Reardon — the Lancers’ talented defensive end who had 2 1/2 sacks Saturday — will be teammates next year at USC.

Coleman will graduate early from Edison and enroll at USC in January, he said.

“Corp came up and gave me a big hug and said, ‘I guess we’re teammates now.’

“Both of those guys are great players. Aaron [Corp] is just a beast, a freak-of-nature who is really athletic. We had been talking about the possibility of playing against each other in the playoffs, but this injury prevented me from getting the chance. But I’ll have plenty of chances when we get to USC.”

Reaching Saturday’s championship game was satisfying for the Chargers. They were picked to finish third in the Sunset League but went on to earn a share of the league title with Esperanza. They defeated three parochial schools (Servite of Anaheim twice, Crespi of Encino, Santa Margarita) and in the past two years, the program has gone 21-5.

“Our No. 1 goal each year is to be a league champion, and we did that,” Dave White said. “The next goal is to go as far as we can in the playoffs, and we took the season to the limit. We were underdogs a lot of times this season, but the kids played to their potential.

“Playing in the championship game is something they’ll always remember.”