Edison football wins 21st straight Bell game over rival Fountain Valley
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The Edison and Fountain Valley high school football teams always get fired up for the Battle for the Bell game.
The difference over the last two decades is that the Chargers are typically still, well, charged up once the clock hits all zeroes in the fourth quarter.
Junior Sam Edmisten and senior Anthony Godinez each rushed for two touchdowns Friday night, as Edison beat Fountain Valley 34-7 at Orange Coast College’s LeBard Stadium.
It’s the 21st straight win in the rivalry series for Edison. The Chargers have not lost to Fountain Valley since 2004, before any of the current players were born, and lead the overall series 43-14-1.
“I just had a picture come up that was me attending this game as a fan 10 years ago,” said Edison junior quarterback Sam Thomson, who threw for 119 yards and a touchdown on Friday night. “To be able to keep that streak going for 10 more years, it’s just a blessing. It’s always good to suit it up with this group of guys against a Fountain Valley team that’s been our rival.”
Edison (4-1) scored touchdowns on each of its first four possessions to take a 27-0 halftime lead, with only a missed extra point keeping the game from featuring a running clock in the fourth quarter.
On the first possession, in particular, the Chargers inched down the field on a 14-play, 80-yard drive that took up more than half of the opening quarter. The drive, which featured seven passing plays and seven rushes, was capped when Edmisten ran the ball in from a yard out.
“We’ve had a couple of those to start games this year,” Edison coach Jeff Grady said of the long opening drive. “We ran the ball well, protected well … Going into this game, we hadn’t been playing very well on offense. I’m glad we came out and ran the ball well, and we were efficient in the passing game.”
After Edmisten had seven carries on the opening drive, Godinez had seven carries on the Chargers’ second drive, ending it with a 7-yard scamper into the end zone.
They finished with 167 combined rushing yards on just 20 carries.
“We call it the best running back duo in the Alpha League,” Godinez said with a smile after the game. “I thought we were really efficient. We had a hard week of practice, but the result was kind of what we were looking for.”
Thomson completed 13 of 18 passes, including a 14-yard touchdown to Maddox Thomas, in nearly three quarters of action before giving way to backup quarterbacks Bryce Jennrich and Kellen Hairston.
Edmiston is wearing jersey No. 9 for Edison this year, taking it over for fellow running back and graduate Julius Gillick, who’s now at Fresno State. Gillick, last year’s Daily Pilot Dream Team Player of the Year after helping the Chargers win CIF Southern Section and CIF State championships, was on the sideline Friday night to watch his alma mater.
“Two kids on the team wanted to wear [No.] 9, so we called up Julius and asked him who he thought should get it,” Thomson explained. “He gave it to Sam Edmisten, his boy, keeping it in the running back room.”
Fountain Valley (1-4) secured just three first downs in the opening half, two of which came on Edison penalties, despite the steady running by senior back Sam Garza. To the Barons’ credit, they didn’t turn the ball over, but two of their punts netted a combined 7 yards to hurt them in the field position battle.
Conrad Barrera and Devyn Blake combined for a quarterback sack for Edison, while Jordan Pelaez also had a sack. Ashton Godley was constantly around the ball for the Chargers defense, making things difficult on Fountain Valley sophomore quarterback Isaac Combs.
The Barons avoided the shutout late, as Garza scored on a 2-yard touchdown run with 11 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Fountain Valley got the ball back, with Trenton Farr recovering a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, but the Barons couldn’t quite find the end zone again before the game ended.
Fountain Valley has a bye this week before opening up the Foxtrot League with a road game against Orange on Oct. 2. Edison, meanwhile, plays at La Serna (2-3) on Friday night.
“We take on these games like they’re our last game,” Godinez said. “We want to win every single game … I don’t think we’re playing to the level that we can, but I think as we progress through the season we can get better.”
Battle for the Bell
Edison 34, Fountain Valley 7
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Edison 7 – 20 – 7 – 0 — 34
Fountain Valley 0 – 0 – 0 – 7 — 7
FIRST QUARTER
E – Edmisten 1 run (Bradshaw kick), 5:22.
SECOND QUARTER
E – Godinez 7 run (kick failed), 11:16.
E – Thomas 14 pass from Thomson (Bradshaw kick), 7:26.
E – Godinez 6 run (Bradshaw kick), 4:23.
THIRD QUARTER
E – Edmisten 3 run (Bradshaw kick), 5:02.
FOURTH QUARTER
FV – Garza 2 run (Chavez kick), 0:11.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
FV – Garza, 18-52, 1 TD.
E – Edmisten, 12-86, 2 TDs; Godinez, 8-81, 2 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
FV – Combs, 6-13-0, 39.
E – Thomson, 13-18-0, 119, 1 TD
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
FV – Dillon, 2-24.
E – Thomas, 4-32, 1 TD; Lo, 2-28.
