Elite featured in Battle at the Beach

Some of the top quarterbacks and receivers in the CIF Southern Section have made their way to south Huntington Beach in early-July over the years to compete for supremacy at the Battle at the Beach at Edison High, and that will be the case again for the 2016 edition on Saturday.

Twenty teams will vie for this year’s title during the single-day passing tournament. Among the competing teams are a CIF State champion, three CIF section champions, two division runner-up teams and playoff teams from last fall. The showcase event is in its 18th year.

“As always, it’s a pretty unbelievable field..it’s loaded, again,” Edison Coach Dave White said. “It was difficult to seed them. There’s a lot of talent in this tournament and some outstanding quarterbacks.”

The teams will be divided into four different pool pairings (five teams each pool), and each team will play four pool games in the morning session. Championship bracket play (Gold Division, Silver Division) starts at 1:30 p.m. with quarterfinal games. Division semifinals are at 2:15 p.m. and each division’s championship game will start at 3 p.m.

The top eight teams from pool play advance to the Gold Division bracket.

Teams competing in this year’s tournament are: Edison, La Puente Bishop Amat (CIF-SS Pac-5 Division semifinalist), Covina Charter Oak (CIF-SS Central Division runner-up), Corona Centennial (CIF-SS Pac-5 Division champion, CIF State Open Division runner-up), Corona del Mar, Gardena Serra, JSerra, La Habra (CIF-SS Southwest Division champion, CIF State Division II-AA regional semifinalist), Newhall Hart, Mater Dei (Pac-5 Division semifinalist), San Marcos Mission Hills, Harbor City Narbonne (CIF-LAC Division 1 champion, CIF State Division 1-A champion), L. A. Cathedral, Santa Margarita, Bellflower St. John Bosco (Pac-5 Division runner-up), Valencia/Valencia, L.A. Loyola, Westlake Village Oaks Christian, Ventura St. Bonaventure, and Tesoro.

Last July, Narbonne defeated Los Alamitos to win the Gold Division championship, and Tesoro defeated Hart (2014 Gold Division champion) to win the Silver Division title.

White said that Edison will rotate junior Griffin O’Connor and senior Bowen Blake at quarterback in the tournament. The Chargers have a strong receiving corps but will be without returning starter and last year’s No. 3 receiver, David Atencio who suffered a torn ACL at the Dana Hills AirStrike Passing Tournament in mid-May.

White said the Edison linemen will compete Saturday at the St. John Bosco Lineman Competition.

In previous passing events, the Chargers finished runner-up to Corona del Mar at both the Dana Hills AirStrike Tournament and the San Juan Hills Gunslinger Tournament in May, and reached the quarterfinals of the Warren Tournament (won by Mater Dei) in June.

Prior to the Battle at the Beach, Edison will travel for a passing and lineman competition at 10 a.m. Thursday at Santa Margarita.

Saturday’s passing and linemen tournaments will conclude the summer session for the Chargers who open their 2016 season Aug. 20 on the island of Maui, Hawaii, and will face host Baldwin.

Saturday’s Pool Play Schedule

Pool A

9 a.m.: Corona Centennial vs. Valencia/Valencia (Field 1), Santa Margarita vs. Mission Hills (Field 2)

9:45 p.m.: Corona Centennial vs. Mission Hills (Field 1), Valencia/Valencia vs. Cathedral (Field 2)

10:30 p.m.: Corona Centennial vs. Santa Margarita (Field 1), Mission Hills vs. Cathedral (Field 2)

11:15 p.m.: Santa Margarita vs. Cathedral (Field 1), Mission Hills vs. Valencia/Valencia (Field 2)

Noon: Corona Centennial vs. Cathedral (Field 1), Santa Margarita vs. Valencia/Valencia (Field 2)

Pool B

9 a.m.: Mater Dei vs. Charter Oak (Field 3), Loyola vs. La Habra (Field 4)

9:45 p.m.: Mater Dei vs. La Habra (Field 3), Charter Oak vs. Corona del Mar (Field 4)

10:30 a.m.: Mater Dei vs. Loyola (Field 3), La Habra vs. Corona del Mar (Field 4)

11:15 p.m.: Loyola vs. Corona del Mar (Field 3), La Habra vs. Charter Oak (Field 4)

Noon: Mater Dei vs. Corona del Mar, Loyola vs. Charter Oak

Pool C

9 .m.: St. John Bosco vs. Tesoro (Field 5), Oaks Christian vs. Narbonne (Field 6)

9:45 p.m.: St. John Bosco vs. Narbonne (Field 5), Tesoro vs. Hart (Field 6)

10:30 p.m.: St. John Bosco vs. Oaks Christian (Field 5), Narbonne vs. Hart (Field 6)

11:15 p.m.: Oaks Christian vs. Hart (Field 5), Narbonne vs. Tesoro (Field 6)

Noon: St. John Bosco vs. Hart (Field 5), Oaks Christian vs. Tesoro (Field 6)

Pool D

9 a.m.: JSerra vs. Edison (Field 7), Bishop Amat vs. Serra (Field 8)

9:45 p.m.: St. Bonaventure vs. Edison (Field 7), Bishop Amat vs. JSerra (Field 8)

10:30 p.m.: Bishop Amat vs. St. Bonaventure (Field 7), Serra vs. JSerra (Field 8)

11:15 p.m.: Serra vs. Edison (Field 7), JSerra vs. St. Bonaventure (Field 8)

Noon: Bishop Amat vs. Edison (Field 7), Serra vs. St. Bonaventure (Field 8)