Edison falls to Los Alamitos in showcase game at SoFi Stadium
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INGLEWOOD — Edison had the advantage as halftime neared in its SoFi Stadium showdown with Los Alamitos, absorbing the Griffins’ initial thrusts, then sandwiching the go-ahead touchdown between successive defensive stops. Now an opportunity — with a well-within-range, 41-yard Crue Bradshaw field goal — to boost their lead to five points two minutes before the break.
It all ended right there, for all intents. All the big plays fell Los Alamitos’ way in its 41-22, Alpha League-opening victory Thursday evening, none so dramatically as here.
Bradshaw’s kick sailed lower than desired, Hunter Eligon swatted the ball away, and Oscar Ocampo tracked it down and raced 88 yards before he was caught at the Edison 1-yard line. Los Alamitos (8-0) went ahead, 21-16, two plays later, then started the second half with three quick touchdowns to turn a tight clash into a romp.
“[That play] was huge. It was huge,” said Jeff Grady, who has lost seven times in nine meetings versus the Griffins as Edison head coach. “It totally changed momentum. We’re [looking to] expand on our lead, and before you know it, they’ve got the lead. So, it’s a huge momentum shift. And then they continue to kind of pile it on in the third quarter. ...It kind of got away from us.”
Both teams piled up yardage — Los Alamitos 496, Edison 493 (with 28 first downs) — the Chargers through Sam Thomson’s constant passing barrage and fellow junior Sam Edmisten’s cultured rushing game while struggling to finish drives. They achieved too little in nine marches into Los Alamitos territory and five into the red zone.
“It’s unfortunate it got away from us,” said Thomson, who set career marks for passes thrown (51), completed (32) and for yardage (299), connecting with 10 receivers — himself, included, on a third-quarter throw batted back from the rush. “We shot ourselves in the foot today. It’s all self-inflicted. ... At some point, we’ve got to stop the bleeding and toughen up.”
Edison (5-3) scored nine points on its first three possessions, a 9-yard Edmisten touchdown reception and one Bradshaw field goal on two attempts (a 52-yarder, long enough but off target, after Will Harrison’s interception on the game’s fourth play; a 27-yarder, after an Edmisten 62-yard run to the Los Alamitos 18-yard line, at the end of the first quarter). Edmisten’s 7-yard run after forcing the first Griffins punt provided a 16-14 lead.
Next drive took them to the Los Alamitos 25, setting up Bradshaw’s third three-point attempt.
“Turning point in the game,” Los Alamitos head coach Ray Fenton said. “We talk about when two evenly-matched teams [meet], there’s about six plays in the game of 180 plays that determine the outcome. It might have just been one tonight, and that was the one. Next thing you know, we’ve got all the momentum on our side.”
Lenny Ibarra ran for 75 of his 212 yards for a 28-16 lead on Los Alamitos’ second snap of the half, and it soon got out of hand. Ibarra scored again after an Edmisten fumble, and then Colin Creason found tight end Beckham Hofland behind the Chargers’ secondary for a 74-yard touchdown.
Edmisten rushed for 158 yards and caught four passes for another 37 and would have had three touchdowns had a holding penalty not killed a 5-yard, fourth-quarter score. Matthew Auau caught 10 balls for 110 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown, and Thomson also targeted Ayden DeGiacomo (seven catches for 66 yards) and Brennan Vares (five catches for 43 yards).
It gets no easier for the Chargers, who take on powerhouse Mission Viejo (6-1 entering Week 8; a consensus national top 30 team) next Friday at ‘Cap’ Sheue Field, then finish Alpha League play at San Clemente (4-3 entering Week 8; 18th in MaxPreps’ CIF Southern Section rankings) on Halloween.
“We’re in a really, really tough league,” Grady said. “Every team presents a lot of challenges. Mission Viejo is a nationally-ranked team, and we’re going to have our hands full every week.”
Alpha League
Los Alamitos 41, Edison 22
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Edison 9 - 7 - 0 - 6 — 22
Los Alamitos 14 - 7 - 20 - 0 — 41
FIRST QUARTER
LA — Gogue 59 pass from Creason (Hofland kick), 7:43.
E — Edmisten 9 pass from Thomson (kick failed), 4:03.
LA — Tillis 14 run (Hofland kick), 2:31.
E — Bradshaw 27 FG, 0:05.
SECOND QUARTER
E — Edmisten 7 run (Bradshaw kick), 7:43.
LA — Creason 1 run (Hofland kick), 1:43.
THIRD QUARTER
LA — Ibarra 75 run (Hofland kick), 9:40.
LA — Ibarra 7 run (Hofland kick), 7:55.
LA — Hofland 74 pass from Creason (kick failed), 4:21.
FOURTH QUARTER
E — Auau 5 pass from Thomson (run failed), 4:28.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
LA — Ibarra, 17-212, 2 TDs; Tillis, 10-103, 1 TD; Creason, 10-29, 1 TD.
E — Edmisten, 19-158, 1 TD; Thomson, 4-9; Chapman, 1-11; Thomas, 3-7; Team, 1-4.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
LA — Creason, 6-10-1, 152, 2 TDs; Ibarra, 0-1-0, 0.
E — Thomson, 32-51-0, 299, 2 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
LA — Hofland, 1-74, 1 TD; Gogue, 1-59, 1 TD; Ibarra, 2-16; Tillis, 1-5; Swietlikowski, 1-(-2).
E — Auau, 10-111, 1 TD; DeGiacomo, 7-70; Vares, 5-42; Edmisten, 4-37, 1 TD; T. Hampton, 1-12; Dempsen, 1-11; Roberts, 1-8; C. Lo, 1-6; Willmer, 1-3; Thomson, 1-(-1).
