Edison girls’ flag football upsets Newport Harbor to open playoffs
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Katelyn Chantha is enjoying her senior season with the Edison High girls’ flag football team. But the playoffs bring with them a sense of finality she can’t escape.
“As a senior, it’s hard,” she said. “This could be my last game. I always try to hype everyone up, saying, ‘I don’t want this to be our last one. I want us to go far.’”
For the record:
10:07 p.m. Oct. 23, 2025A previous version of this article incorrectly identified Ayla Khoshkbariie, who made the final interception for Edison, and Preslee Thomas.
Her contributions on both sides of the ball helped the Chargers earn a historic win Wednesday night.
Chantha’s 42-yard touchdown run in the third quarter provided the game’s only points, as Edison upset Newport Harbor 6-0 in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs at Davidson Field.
It was Edison’s first victory against Newport Harbor in program history. The Chargers had lost the teams’ eight previous meetings, including three this year.
Edison (18-9) was the Sunset League’s third-place entrant into the postseason, while Newport Harbor (23-3) shared the league title with Huntington Beach.
“We worked so hard for this all season,” Edison senior running back/cornerback Addison La Trobe said. “Everybody out there is giving 110%. Honestly, it just means the world to us.”
The victory was not secured until Edison sophomore Ayla Khoshkbariie intercepted a last-ditch heave to the end zone on the final play, a fitting ending for a Chargers defense that handed Newport Harbor its first shutout loss of the season.
Chantha also had four quarterback sacks, forming a formidable pass rush along with Edison freshman Addison Bond.
“We knew it was going to be a low-scoring game, a defensive battle,” Edison coach Frank Phung said. “This is a league opponent, and we know each other very well. We had tape on them, and I’m sure they had tape on us. We knew we had to hunker down on defense to win the game, and that’s what they did. The defense was lights out all night.”
Edison, which advanced to the Division 2 semifinals last year but is making its first appearance in Division 1, will host Camarillo (25-2) in the quarterfinals on Monday night.
The Sailors got the ball with 1:50 left in the fourth quarter and appeared primed to drive downfield for the tie. Sophomore quarterback Scarlett Guyser found senior receiver Cooper Dick for four receptions on that final drive, and an illegal contact penalty on Edison gave the Sailors a first down at the Edison 15-yard line with 22 seconds remaining.
Two passes were broken up, with Chargers junior Preslee Thomas doing the honors on the latter play, to bring up third down. La Trobe then broke up another pass into the end zone, before the fourth-down interception.
Newport Harbor was also stout defensively against Edison’s offense, predicated on “jet motion” plays. Edison junior quarterback Sadie Olivares would often lateral the ball to another player like sophomore Maddie Phung, senior Avea Nieumata or Thomas, who were also all threats to throw.
Junior rushers Aliyah Chappell and Ava Mortensen were defensive standouts for the Sailors, and Dick had a first-half interception, though Edison did rip off chunks of yardage on runs by La Trobe and Olivares.
“We did a great job,” Newport Harbor coach Jason Guyser said. “Every time we’ve played them, we’ve held them to one touchdown. I’m really happy about that. Unfortunately, offensively we just couldn’t get it going. There were some drops, there were sacks. At the end of the day, those are drive-killers.”
Guyser, who hoped to guide the Sailors back to the Division 1 title match, still said the main goals for the season were to win another league title and beat rival Corona del Mar. With both of those accomplished, he said he still considered it still a success, calling the playoffs a “complete crapshoot.”
“It’s hard to beat a team four times,” he said of losing to Edison. “I mean, that’s just kind of a bad draw, to be honest. But they played really well and they’re a good team, so they deserve plenty of credit. It was a good game, 6-0.”
Newport Harbor played without sophomore two-way standout Skylie Cid, who Guyser said suffered a leg contusion in the team’s regular season finale win at Aliso Niguel on Oct. 15.
Frank Phung said he knew the Sailors would compete. He and Guyser have had plenty of battles at the club flag football level with their programs Beach Flag Football and Seals, respectively.
In the end, though, Edison celebrated wildly after the final whistle of arguably the biggest win in the young program’s history.
“It feels surreal almost,” La Trobe said. “We worked so hard.”
In other first-round playoff games involving local teams:
Huntington Beach 19, Esperanza 0: The Oilers earned the shutout Wednesday night in the first round of the Division 1 playoffs at home.
Huntington Beach (24-1), the co-Sunset League champion, plays at Camarillo in a Division 1 quarterfinal game on Monday.
Corona del Mar 20, Agoura 18: The Sea Kings pulled off a close win on the road Tuesday in the first round of the Division 2 playoffs.
CdM (14-14) has a home game against Linfield Christian in the second round on Saturday.
Long Beach Jordan 13, Costa Mesa 6: The Mustangs (11-8) bowed out in the first round of the Division 5 playoffs on the road Tuesday.
Estancia 33, Palm Springs 6: The Eagles earned a road win to open the Division 6 playoffs on Tuesday.
Estancia (9-8) will be home against El Rancho in the second round Saturday.
Adelanto 34, Los Amigos 6: The Lobos (6-9) fell in the first round of the Division 6 playoffs on Tuesday.
