Edison football falls to Inglewood in CIF quarterfinals

A defensive stand at the end of the game was emblematic of the way the Inglewood High School defense had stiffened in its own territory.

On the third of three consecutive passing plays from the 6-yard-line, Inglewood’s rush got there — as it had all night — and knocked Tyler Gioia’s pass away.

Behind its stifling defense and just enough explosive plays on offense, Inglewood defeated Edison 22-16 on Friday night in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs at Caroline Coleman Stadium.

Inglewood (11-0), the Ocean League champion, will play host to top-seeded Mission Hills Alemany (9-3) in the semifinals. Alemany, the Mission League champion, ran past La Puente Bishop Amat 54-38 on Friday.

Edison’s Troy Fletcher runs around an Inglewood player for a first down in the fourth quarter.

(Gary Ambrose)

The Sentinels came up with three red zone stops that did not result in points for the Chargers. Under duress throughout the contest, Gioia completed 14 of 31 passes for 147 yards, one touchdown and an interception. He was also sacked six times.

Inglewood had eight sacks totaling 78 yards. Justus Ross-Simmons and Marshon Oxley each had three sacks, while Charles Deloach III and Taariq Al-Uqdah had one sack apiece.

Edison (8-4) got on the scoreboard on the final play of the first half, as Austin Grbic made a tackle in the end zone for a safety, cutting the Inglewood advantage to 8-2.

“We responded,” Edison coach Jeff Grady said. “I know that. I know that the safety was a big momentum shift, we felt, and we turned it into some more points in the second half and had a lead, and just couldn’t finish that last drive.”

Inglewood quarterback Justyn Martin is dragged down by his jersey during the first quarter.

(Gary Ambrose)

After failing to break through on offense for three quarters, Edison built momentum with two touchdowns in rapid succession.

Tyler Hampton made a sliding catch on fourth and goal from the Inglewood 2 to give Edison a 9-8 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Hudson Letterman and Logan Gregory got to Justyn Martin on the Sentinels’ next possession, yielding a turnover on downs at the Inglewood 28.

“Our offense capitalized, punched in a touchdown after that,” Letterman said. “That was a big moment in the game. It felt great.”

Edison’s Troy Fletcher finds some room to run during the second half on Friday.

(Gary Ambrose)

The Chargers cashed in just 85 seconds after their previous touchdown, as Troy Fletcher scored on a run of 14 yards off left tackle.

Inglewood was quick to answer. Martin, a UCLA commit, uncorked a deep ball that Louis Brown ran under down the left sideline for a 51-yard touchdown. Ross-Simmons brought in Martin’s pass on a jump ball for the two-point conversion to knot the score at 16-16 with 9:23 left.

Troy Fletcher, who carried the ball 30 times for 209 yards, ripped off runs of 22, 14 and 21 yards to get the Chargers into Sentinels territory on their next drive, but Inglewood forced a turnover on downs at its 30-yard line.

Edison coach Jeff Grady talks to his team during the game.

(Gary Ambrose)

Tomarion Harden, who rushed 17 times for 95 yards, then sprinted for 36 yards, which was his longest carry. On the next play, Al-Uqdah ran for a 35-yard touchdown, his second rushing score of the evening, to restore Inglewood‘s lead at 22-16 with 4:56 remaining.

The Chargers got a 16-yard reception by Hampton, a 37-yard run by Fletcher and then a 25-yard catch by Mason York to key a 70-yard march down the field before Inglewood came up with the stop.

“Every guy on this team, I know, wholeheartedly gave it their all this whole game,” Letterman added. “The dice just rolled the other way.”

Edison quarterback Tyler Gioia throws against Inglewood.

(Gary Ambrose)

CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs

Inglewood 22, Edison 16

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Edison 0 – 2 – 0 – 14 — 16

Inglewood 0 – 8 – 0 – 14 — 22

FIRST QUARTER

None.

SECOND QUARTER

I — Al-Uqdah 64 run (Ross-Simmons pass from Martin), 8:01.

E — Safety (A. Grbic tackle in end zone), 0:00.

THIRD QUARTER

None.

FOURTH QUARTER

E — Hampton 2 pass from Gioia (Preston kick), 11:55.

E — Fletcher 14 run (Preston kick), 10:30.

I — Brown 51 pass from Martin (Ross-Simmons pass from Martin), 9:23.

I — Al-Uqdah 35 run (Martin pass failed), 4:56.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

E — Fletcher, 30-209, 1 TD.

I — Al-Uqdah, 2-99, 2 TDs; Harden, 17-95.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

E — Gioia, 14-31-1, 147, 1 TD.

I — Martin, 7-12-0, 91, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

E — York, 3-41; Fletcher, 4-40; Hampton, 4-37, 1 TD.

I — Brown, 1-51, 1 TD.

::

Support our sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.

For more sports stories, visit latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/sports or follow us on Twitter @DailyPilotSport.