High School Football: O’Connor’s big first half leads to easy win

One week after its most important and toughest Sunset League contest of the season, Edison played host to Marina on Friday at Huntington Beach High School.

It didn’t take long for the Chargers, ranked No. 2 in Division 3, to dispel even the remote possibility of a letdown against the struggling Vikings.

Quarterback Griffin O’Connor made sure of that.

O’Connor was a perfect 14 for 14, throwing for 326 yards and five touchdowns – all in the first half – to lead Edison to a 52-14 victory.

The victory comes a week after Edison’s huge win over Los Alamitos, the team forecast to challenge the Chargers (7-1, 3-0) for the league title.

“We talked all about it,” Edison Coach Dave White said of a potential letdown. “We talked about playing at our level, to our potential and getting better this week and they did a good job at that,”

The Chargers, whose only defeat this season came in a nonleague game against Mater Dei, have remaining league games against rival Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach, which they beat 33-7 and 28-13 respectively last season.

“We’re pretty healthy right now,” White said. “If we take care of business, I think we’ve got good shot of winning league and going to the playoffs on a high note.”

O’Connor threw touchdown passes of 18, 56 and 13 yards to E.J. Ginnis, a 29-yard scoring pass to McCade Barrett and a 25-yard touchdown pass to David Atencio.

“There is always a weapon to throw to,” O’Connor said. “We have multiple receivers who are really, really good. They did a really good job of getting open tonight.”

The junior’s performance helped the Chargers to a 45-0 lead at the half.

“We wanted to make sure we came out with the same energy as we did last week,” O’Connor said. “The coach is really big on us taking a step forward, each week getting better. That is what we say every day at practice.”

The second half was played with a running clock and with O’Connor on the sidelines.

Despite trailing by more than five touchdowns, the Vikings (3-5, 0-3) didn’t give up.

Rand Keidel returned the second half kickoff 41 yards to set the Vikings up on the Edison 39.

On the first play from scrimmage, Cooper Malerstein ran for a 39-yard touchdown to get the Vikings on the board.

Marina recovered the ensuing onside kick and drove from the Edison 49 to the 14.

But on a second-and-8, quarterback Ian Greene was sacked and fumbled as he went down.

Defensive back Nicholas Warren scooped up the loose ball and returned it 78 yards for a touchdown.

Female kicker Shelby Burris entered the game and kicked the extra point, giving the Chargers a 52-7 lead.

Malerstein got the Vikings on the board again, this time on 76-yard touchdown run with 1:53 remaining.

Marina’s remaining games are against Newport Harbor and Fountain Valley respectively.

Sunset League

Edison 52, Marina 14

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Marina 0 0 7 7 – 14

Edison 14 31 7 0 – 52

FIRST QUARTER

Edi – Ginnis 18 pass from O’Connor, (Morrell kick), 9:45.

Edi – Ginnis 56 pass from O’Connor, (Morrell kick), 2:46

SECOND QUARTER

Edi – Barrett 29 pass from O’Connor, (Morrell kick), 10:33.

Edi – Ginnis 13 pass from O’Connor, 10:27

Edi – Morrell FG 23, 6:05.

Edi – Atencio 25 pass from O’Connor, (Morrell kick), 1:28

Edi – Atencio 9 pass from Blake, (Morrell kick), :57

THIRD QUARTER

Mar – Malerstein 29 run, (Keidel kick), 11:16.

Edi – Warren 78 fumble return, (Burris kick), 5:48.

FOURTH QUARTER

Mar – Malerstein 76 run, (Keidel kick), 1:53

RUSHING LEADERS

Mar – Holmes 12-162, 2 TDs

Edi - Nguyen, 2-30.

PASSING LEADERS

Mar – Green 7-15-0-80

Edi – O’Connor 14-14-0-326, 5 TDs.

RECEVING LEADERS

Mar – Holmes 3-48

Edi – Ginnis 5-109, 3 TDs.