Edison’s loss makes a mess of Sunset

COSTA MESA — Was that mess late Friday night associated with the Sunset League, or the college football Bowl Championship Series?

Edison needed a win Friday at Orange Coast College to claim an outright Sunset League championship.

The Chargers’ opponent, Esperanza, needed a victory just to keep its playoff hopes alive and if that were to happen, the Aztecs would also earn a share of the league title. So, too, would three other league teams: Fountain Valley, Los Alamitos and Newport Harbor.

That’s what transpired at LeBard Stadium, a surprising 16-3 victory by Esperanza on a blustery night that knocked the league race on its head. The outcome left Edison, Esperanza, Fountain Valley, Los Alamitos and Newport Harbor, all 3-2 and tied for first-place.

That’s no BCS.

The five-way tie is a first for the league, a disappointed Edison Coach Dave White said after the game.

“It just shows you there wasn’t a stand-out team in this league, just five above-average teams,” White said. “A five-way tie. That’s worse than kissing your sister.”

About an hour after the game, things got even more precarious for White and his Chargers.

At a meeting between the five athletic directors from the schools who tied for first place held on the Edison campus, a drawing determined which three teams would receive automatic bids to next week’s CIF playoffs and in which order they would represent the league, while a fourth team would be designated as an at-large bid hopeful from the league. A fifth team, wouldn’t make that playoffs, at all.

The conclusion of the drawing and seeding? Esperanza, a team whose only postseason hope was to knock off Edison — a loss Friday would have ended the Aztecs’ season — is now going into the playoffs as the league’s No. 1 seed. Fountain Valley, which routed Marina Thursday, 42-0, was designated the league’s No. 2 team. Los Alamitos, who on Thursday lost, 24-23, on a late field goal to Newport Harbor, got the No. 3 bid.

That left Edison and Newport Harbor on the outside and because the Chargers defeated the Sailors, 14-7, last month, Edison is the No. 4 team and now has to hope for an at-large bid. So Edison, which had an outright league title within its grasp and with it, the league’s No. 1 seed into the playoffs, might miss the postseason altogether.

Newport Harbor, which not only nipped Los Al Thursday, but also blasted Esperanza, 35-6 on Halloween night, is done for the season.

Knowing the outcome of the Fountain Valley-Marina and Newport Harbor-Los Alamitos games from Thursday — Newport’s win knocked Los Al out of a first-place tie with Edison — the Chargers knew what they had to do Friday in order to repeat as league champs. But from the get-go, they were sluggish, sloppy and out of sorts.

Both Edison and Esperanza looked anemic offensively in the first half. Of Edison’s eight possessions, the Chargers punted five times, lost a fumble, kicked a field goal for the only points in the opening half and took a knee on the final possession of the half. Esperanza also had eight first-half possessions. The Aztecs punted six times and lost fumbles on their other two possessions, the second of which set up a 41-yard field goal by Edison’s Lucas Vandeman.

The Chargers had just 110 yards by the half and the Aztecs a mere 83.

But the winds of change blew in the direction of Esperanza at the outset of the second half.

Edison received the second-half kick and as Davion Orphey stepped forward to field Aria Nabipur’s kick, the wind caused the ball to change direction and went away from Orphey. The ball bounced off Orphey’s chest and the Aztecs recovered at the Edison 19 yards line. Three plays, running back Jared Moore scored on a four-yard run. Edison’s Jordan Zumwalt broke through to block the extra point but the Aztecs took a 6-3 lead with 10:57 still left in the third quarter.

The Chargers continued to struggle on offense in the second half, their first two possessions of the half resulting in three-and-out situations. Junior quarterback Matt Viles, who took a hit to the right wrist of his throwing arm in the first quarter, was off all night. He missed seven straight passes spanning the late-first half to the start of the fourth quarter. He was only four of 23 in the second half and 12 of 39 for 117 yards for the game.

Esperanza relied on its rushing game to wear down the clock. Moore scored on a two-yard run with 3:20 left to expand the Aztecs’ lead to 13-3. He ended up with 187 yards on 34 carries. After Edison turned the ball over on downs at its own 20 with 3:01 left, Tyler Drees added a 35-yard field goal with 1:35 remaining to make it 16-3.

Edison, Esperanza, Fountain Valley and Newport Harbor all finished the regular season 7-3 overall. Los Alamitos finished 8-2.