Edison fighting for its playoff life

Two weeks ago, the Edison High football team was sitting pretty,

the surprise toast of the Sunset League.

The Chargers caught the attention of the county after having gone

5-0 during the nonleague portion of the season. That mark was surprising

because it came on the heels of last year’s 3-6-1 record and all but

began to wipe out the memory of a seven-game winless streak to end the

1998 season.

But since that 5-0 start, Edison has been handed some harsh

reminders of last year’s slide - and the Chargers have their league

brethren to thank for prying open old wounds.

‘That’s something we don’t want to go through again, because last

season was tough for everybody,’ Edison Coach Dave White said. ‘We’re

still a young team and despite getting off to a slow start in league

play, we’ve been in each of those two games right up until the end. Now,

we’re fighting to stay alive.’

Edison’s promising start has been tempered by league losses to

Marina and Los Alamitos in the first two weeks of the Sunset race. White

is right when he says that the Chargers were in each of those ballgames,

but losses in each have put his team behind the eight ball right from the

start.

At 0-2 in league, Edison needs at least two victories in its final

three games if it hopes to secure any type of consideration for a playoff

berth. Two wins would make the Chargers a strong wild-card candidate in

Division I, but three wins to close out the regular season would all but

assure the Chargers the berth they seek.

Edison gets its first chance to get back on the winning track

tonight when the Chargers travel to Placentia to meet Esperanza at

Valencia High’s Bradford Stadium.

Edison has yet to beat the Aztecs, who own a 5-0 record against

the Chargers since joining the Sunset League in 1994.

‘We’d sure like to beat them,’ White said. ‘Hopefully, it’s our

turn to win in this series.

‘I think the keys for us Thursday will be our abilities to keep

our mistakes on offense to a minimum, and get back to playing defense the

way we are capable of playing. We gave up way too many points last week

against Los Alamitos.’

Los Alamitos, which is tied with Marina for the league lead at

2-0, scored 44 on the Chargers and gained more than 400 yards in offense,

but had to hang on for a 44-36 victory.

It was the most points allowed by Edison this season.

In comparison, Esperanza led visiting Los Alamitos late in their

Oct. 15 showdown, but dropped a 14-10 decision to its most heated rival.

The Aztecs, 1-1 in league and 4-3 overall, looked sluggish last

week against Huntington Beach, but rode another strong defensive

performance to post a 14-10 victory.

‘They’re a good football, but I don’t think they’re as potent on

offense as they’ve been in the past,’ White said. ‘They are talented on

defense, though - especially against the run.’

Esperanza already has gone up against the likes of Los Alamitos

running back Damon Johnson, who rushed for 138 yards and a touchdown on

31 carries in that 14-10 victory.

Johnson is one of the county’s top rushers with 1,049 yards (5.6 average) and 11 touchdowns. The senior got a big chunk of those numbers

in last week’s win over Edison, when he was a one-man show in gaining 274

yards (34 carries) and scoring five touchdowns.

Now, the Aztecs will have to contend with Edison’s Darryl Poston.

Putting on what White termed the ‘most impressive individual

performance’ that he has seen in his 14 years as Edison’s head coach, the

junior running back netted 210 yards and scored five touchdowns against

the Griffins last Friday.

Poston is near the top of the county’s rushing leaders list with

1,249 yards - good for an 8.7 average every time he touches the ball.

He also leads the county in touchdowns this season with 21, and

will severely challenge an Esperanza defense that has held six of its

seven opponents to 14 points or fewer.

Edison comes into tonight’s showdown averaging 37 points per game.

The difference in this game may come at the pass, and that would

favor Edison.

The Chargers have a strong passing game to compliment the rushing

of Poston, with quarterback Richard Schwartz entering the Esperanza game

with 1,231 yards and seven touchdowns. Schwartz averages 18 yards per

completion, and the target of his passing affections seems to favor

senior Brendon Cornell, who leads all Charger receivers with 365 yards

and an 18.3 per reception average.

Esperanza, which lost a lot of talent to graduation in June, has

switched quarterbacks the last two games.

Junior Ryan Saucedo was intercepted four times in the Los Alamitos

game, then lost his starting spot to fellow junior Greg Farrell, who

played the entire way against Huntington Beach. Farrell, whose favorite

target against the Oilers was Ryan Murray, has thrown for 507 yards, but

has only one touchdown pass in the Aztecs’ first seven games.

Junior running back Tim Sonuyi, who broke his right arm before the

start of the season and still wears a cast, is Esperanza’s leading

rusher.

In tonight’s other game, Fountain Valley (4-3, 1-1) will take on

host Los Alamitos (7-0, 2-0) at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.