Football: Look out Chargers, here come the Friars
In the past two weeks, Edison High has come up with a pair of defensive gems. Friday at Orange Coast College, the Chargers figure to get a stiff challenge when Servite comes calling.
The nonleague game between the Chargers and Friars kicks off at 7 p.m. at LeBard Stadium.
Edison registered its second-straight shutout victory last week by blanking visiting Canyon of Anaheim, 35-0. Coach Dave White said his Chargers have shown progress since a season-opening loss at Tesoro (No. 3, CIF Southern Section West Valley Division), but says there’s still room for improvement.
“We’re getting better every week and working hard in practice,” he said. “The Tesoro loss (35-16) was very humbling and the kids have put in the work to improve. We have 10 new players on defense, but our guys have been playing really well.”
The Chargers, who had shut down Buena Park (38-0) two weeks ago, jumped on Canyon early and led, 21-0 at the half. The three scores came on pass plays covering 15, 25 and five yards from senior quarterback Grant Lowary to senior receiver Garrett White. Lowary threw for 170 yards and closed out the scoring with a 27-yard TD pass to junior receiver Turner Maza. Junior free safety Bowen Blake scored on a 29-yard interception return in the third quarter.
“Individually, we had some guys who did have good performances,” White said. “Gasper Atencio did a nice job of breaking up some passes, and he was our defensive player of the game. Garrett (White) played well on offense and blocked pretty well in addition to scoring three touchdowns.
“But, we’re still not consistent on both sides of the ball. Our offense has its moments but hasn’t sustained consistency. We just need to fix that inconsistency, lack of discipline and focus, whatever you want to call it.”
The Edison defense has posted consecutive shutouts for the first time since the 2009 season.
The Chargers started the season with a No. 9 ranking in the West Valley Division. They are ranked seventh this week.
Servite is 1-2 and will be facing its second Sunset League opponent on Friday. The Friars started their season with a 45-7 victory over Fountain Valley but since have dropped consecutive games to La Puente Bishop Amat (28-10) and Concord De La Salle (52-15).
The two losses have dropped the Friars, who had a No. 10 preseason ranking, from the CIF-SS PAC-5 Division poll.
“They’re a really strong team,” White said. “Their record is deceiving because of the teams they have faced. They look physical on both sides, run the ball physically and are tough defensively. They’ve got some really good defensive players and junior receiver [Terrell Bynum] who is really good.
“When you play teams that are really good, you get excited about it. Our kids are excited to play Servite.”
The Servite game starts a grueling, three-game stretch in the coming weeks for Edison which will face the Friars, Mater Dei and defending Sunset League champion Los Alamitos.
“Will we be better enough for Servite, Mater Dei and Los Alamitos? we’ll see,” White said. “We’ll definitely find out starting Friday.”
Edison and Servite have met annually in nonleague play since the 2000 season. The Friars have won the last two games in the series.
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Other Friday games:
West Adams Prep (0-3) vs. Fountain Valley (1-2)
(7 p.m., Huntington Beach High)
Los Angeles West Adams Prep will be making its second trip to Huntington Beach High’s Sheue Field in three weeks when it takes on the Barons.
The Panthers opened their season Aug. 28 against Huntington Beach and were handled by the Oilers, 57-14, in a game that went to a running clock for the second half. They have since lost to Hacienda Heights Los Altos (57-16) and Calabasas (48-28).
Fountain Valley picked up its first win of the season last week by turning back Trabuco Hills, 31-24, at Sheue Field. The Barons put up their highest point total of the early season, and had some big defensive stops that secured the victory.
“We’ve overcome some adversity and I’m so, so happy for the kids because they have worked really, really hard,” Fountain Valley Coach Ray Fenton said. “We had a tough first few weeks (losses to Servite, Long Beach Wilson) but I’m proud of how the kids pulled through.
“Our defense has played really well now for three games, but our offense had been stagnant. We finally were able to establish our running game and our defense made some fantastic plays there at the end to help us get the win.”
Fountain Valley, which lost key starter Dakarai Barnett to injury before the start of the season, built a 10-0 lead in the game, twice built leads of 13 points, fell behind in the fourth quarter but pulled out the win.
Senior kicker Ben Filipek opened the scoring with a 37-yard field goal and running back George Sykes scored on a 15-yard run for the 10-0 lead. Junior running back Noe Falealii scored on a 64-yard run and senior quarterback Chad Olberding scored on a pair of keepers including the game-winner on a 15-yard run with 4:59 remaining.
The Fountain Valley defense protected the lead by stuffing Trabuco Hills leading rusher, Chad Crosbie, who had scored twice, for no gain on a fourth-down run at the Fountain Valley 40 yard line with 1:41 to go.
Junior linebacker Daniel Serrano had come up with an impressive interception on Trabuco’s previous possession to thwart a Mustangs’ drive that had reached the Fountain Valley 39.
Senior Trae Davis played an outstanding game in the Fountain Valley defensive backfield. The 5-foot-6 cornerback, who had played wide receiver on offense the first two weeks of the season, had several key knock downs on long pass plays.
Davis also had a 56-yard kickoff return early in the fourth quarter.
“Trae was tremendous,” Fenton said. “This was his first week playing corner, and he made some really big plays for us.”
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Huntington Beach (1-2) vs. Moorpark (2-1)
(7 p.m., Moorpark High)
After two weeks of playing in south Orange County, Huntington now travels north to Los Angeles County to face the Musketeers.
Huntington is looking to get back on the winning track after it dropped its second consecutive game, a 39-8 loss last week to JSerra. Senior running back Moses Turner rushed for a game-high 169 yards and a touchdown for the Oilers.
Moorpark won its first two games but last week dropped a tight contest to La Canada St. Francis (No. 2, CIF-SS Southeast Division), 29-23. Tyler Riehs ran for a game-high 156 yards and two touchdowns, and Zane Pope scored on a kickoff return for the Musketeers who previously had scored easy wins against Quartz Hill (27-0) and Palos Verdes (28-6).
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San Juan Hills (3-0) vs. Marina (1-2)
(7 p.m., Westminster High)
Marina goes up against a ranked opponent for a second-straight week when it hosts the Stallions at Boswell Field.
The Vikings are looking to bounce back from a 42-20 loss to rival Westminster, the top-rated team in the CIF-SS Southern Division. Senior quarterback Dominic Gonzalez and junior receiver Noah Holmes hooked up on a 67-yard touchdown pass to put Marina up, 7-0, less than two minutes into the game, and Gonzalez and sophomore tailback Blaine Riederich both later scored rushing touchdowns.
San Juan Hills has gotten its season off to a hot start. The Stallions upended San Clemente (34-20), preseason No. 1 in the CIF-SS Southwest Division, in their opener, and since have defeated Canyon of Anaheim (32-14) and Capistrano Valley (58-21).
In last week’s win over Capo Valley, senior quarterback Patrick O’Brien, a Nebraska commit, was 22 of 28 for 328 yards and five touchdowns, and also led the Stallions’ rushing attack with 90 yards
San Juan Hills, unranked to start the season, is No. 8 in this week’s CIF-SS West Valley Division poll.
Marina Coach Jeff Turley said the Mustangs “look really good.”
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La Quinta (1-1) vs. Ocean View (0-2)
(7 p.m., Ocean View High)
One week after getting shutout at Cerritos Valley Christian, Ocean View returns home Friday to host the Aztecs.
Ocean View was handed a 47-0 loss by Valley Christian (No. 6, CIF-SS Northwest Division). The Seahawks have scored one touchdown in two games.
“Valley Christian simply had too much size and speed for us,” Ocean View Coach Luis Nunez said. “We have just got to keep coaching our kids and hopefully, we can improve every week before league play.”
Ocean View’s third nonleague opponent is a Westminster La Quinta team entered the win column for the first time by defeating Rosemead Bosco Tech, 54-33, last week. Quarterback Gilbert Napoles threw for 187 yards and a pair of touchdowns and rushed for a score, and Tam Le (110 yards, TD) and Dylan Do (90 yards, two TDs) led a rushing attack that racked up 393 yards.
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Saturday game
Capo Valley Christian (2-1) vs. Brethren Christian (3-0)
(7 p.m., Ocean View High)
A Brethren Christian team that has rolled to victory in its first three games goes after win No. 4 when it hosts the Eagles.
BC is ranked No. 6 in this week’s CIF-SS East Valley Division poll. Capistrano Valley Christian is ranked ninth in the division.
The Warriors remained undefeated by taking down La Puente Workman, 49-7. A rushing game that netted 319 yards and six touchdowns on only 23 attempts was led by junior Jordan Leonard who ran for 115 yards and four scores on just seven touches. Levon Lester ran for 99 yards and a score on four carries, and quarterback Bobbie Conklin was nine of 12 for 154 yards and a score.
The Warriors had 487 yards of total offense.
“Our running game was great, our ‘bigs’ were pounding out holes, and our running backs are finishing in the end zone,” BC Coach Pat McInally said. “Our defense continues to be very aggressive with hard-hitting and team tackling.”
BC, which has averaged 55 points in its first three games, now goes up against a Capistrano Valley Christian squad that last week claimed a 34-24 victory over San Pedro Mary Star of the Sea. Quarterback Dawson Piper amassed 424 passing yards with four touchdowns, three going to receiver Ben Sukut.
Dawson has thrown seven touchdown passes and Sukut has six TD receptions in three games
The Eagles will be facing a second opponent from the Academy League in BC. Two weeks ago, they were shutout out (42-0) by San Juan Capistrano St. Margaret’s, the top-ranked team in the East Valley Division.
“The next three games will show us what we have, starting this week with Capistrano Valley Christian,” McInally said.
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CIF Weekly Rankings
(released Monday)
West Valley Division: Edison, No. 7
East Valley Division: Brethren Christian, No. 6
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Edison (2-1)
16...Tesoro...35
38...Buena Park...0
35...Canyon/Anaheim...0
Friday: Servite, 7 p.m.
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Fountain Valley (1-2)
7...Servite...45
11..Long Beach Wilson...26
31...Trabuco Hills...24
Friday: West Adams Prep, 7 p.m.
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Huntington Beach (1-2)
57...West Adams Prep...14
21...San Clemente...51
8...JSerra...39
Friday: at Moorpark, 7 p.m.
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Marina (1-2)
21...Aliso Niguel...40
31...Ocean View...6
20...Westminster...42
Friday: San Juan Hills, 7 p.m.
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Ocean View (0-2)
6...Marina...31
0...Valley Christian...47
Friday: Westminster La Quinta, 7 p.m.
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Brethren Christian (3-0)
62...Riverside Prep...0
