Chargers dominate in Maui
The Edison High Chargers started the final season of Coach Dave White Saturday in Maui, Hawaii, and returned home with an impressive victory.
Quarterbacks Griffin O’Connor and Bowen Blake combined for six touchdown passes and the Chargers led all the way in rolling past the Baldwin Bears, 56-21 at War Memorial Stadium.
O’Connor, a junior, threw for 247 yards and four touchdowns in the opening half. Blake, a senior, passed for 143 yards and two scores.
O’Connor threw scoring passes covering 36 yards to senior receiver E.J. Ginnis on Edison’s second play from scrimmage, and he and senior receiver Shaun Colamonico hooked up on a 64-yard touchdown pass play. Both scores came within a two-minute span early in the first quarter. Colamonico hauled in his scoring pass early in the second quarter, a 34-yard pass from Blake.
O’Connor and Ginnis teamed up again on a long scoring pass, this one covering 64 yards for a 28-0 lead midway through the quarter. O’Connor’s fourth TD pass went for 22 yards to senior Chad Fisser to make it 35-0.
The Chargers held a 35-7 lead at halftime.
“Both Griffin [O’Connor] and Bowen [Blake] did really well, and Bowen started at safety, too” White said. “Both did a lot of good stuff. Our receivers played really well and our offensive line did a great job with its pass-rush blocking.”
Edison’s continued to blitz the Bears through the air early in the second half. A 56-yard touchdown pass play between Blake and Ginnis extended the Edison lead to 42-7. Junior Jack Carmichael (12 yards) and junior Chad Pavlik (20 yards) rushed for touchdowns in the final four minutes of the third quarter to put Edison’s lead at 56-13 heading into the fourth quarter.
“There were some things we did do wrong, and there some things we need to work on defensively, but they are fixable,” White said. “We didn’t do too well against the run which is something we will address.
“Overall, it was a great season opener. The kids were awesome and it was a great trip.”
Edison is back in action Saturday, hosting Tesoro at 7 p.m. Saturday at Huntington Beach High. It’s the season opener for the Titans who went 10-3, finished second in the South Coast League and reached the second round of the CIF Southern Section West Valley Division playoffs.
“They are a tough team and have really good coaches,” White said of the Titans. “They kind of kicked our butts last year [a 35-16 Tesoro win], so we’ll be ready for a battle.”
Former Edison standout athlete Tom Shields, who won a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will be the guest of honor and introduced before the start of the Chargers’ home opener against Tesoro, Edison officials confirmed.
Five other local teams open their season at 7 p.m. Friday, two of them going head-to-head.
Ocean View and Brethren Christian will square off at Westminster High. The Seahawks went 5-5 last year while the Warriors posted an 11-2 record and reached the semifinal round of the CIF Southern Section East Valley Division playoffs.
Fountain Valley hosts Servite at Huntington Beach High. The Barons, under new head Coach Jimmy Nolan, went 7-4 and made the West Valley Division playoffs last year. The Friars went 4-6 last year under first-year head coach Scott Meyer who previously coached at Corona del Mar.
Huntington Beach will travel to Los Angeles for a matchup with West Adams Prep. The Oilers have a new head coach in Brett Brown. They went went 3-7 last year and their opponent, West Adams Prep, was a CIF (L.A. City Section) playoff participant and finished 6-7 overall. The teams met faced each other in their season openers last year at Huntington, a game won 57-14 by the Oilers.
Marina travels to south Orange County to take on Dana Hills. Jeff Turley’s Vikings were 1-9 last year. The Dolphins were winless.
CIF Preseason Rankings
Preseason rankings for the 2016 season were released Tuesday. Edison is ranked No. 3 in Division 3, and Brethren Christian is ranked No. 1 in Division 10.
