Hot second quarter keys Edison football triumph over Leuzinger

Edison High passed its first big test of the prep football season Friday night, getting several big plays to take command before halftime and utilizing a superb defensive performance to neutralize Lawndale Leuzinger’s speed and supreme skill.

Parker Awad threw for 299 yards and two touchdowns, Carter Hogue ran for 82 yards and two more scores, and the Chargers rolled to a 31-22 triumph at Huntington Beach High, a scoreline that greatly flattered the visitors.

Edison (2-0) held a 31-6 advantage until the final two minutes, when Will Doherty connected twice for touchdowns with Daijon Calimon — the second covering 80 yards — against the Chargers’ reserves. Too little, far too late.

“That was a really good win,” said Edison head coach Jeff Grady, whose team put up 48 points in a quarter and a half in an injury-shortened rout at Venice in last week’s opener. “I hate the way we finished, but we played hard for four quarters. We knew it was going to be that kind of game.”

Awad connected on 17 of 25 passes after completing 15 of 17 for 289 yards in little time last week, repeatedly finding Ashton Hurley (six catches for 152 yards), Mason York (five catches for 117 yards) and Tucker Tripp (four catches for 44 yards).

He did his greatest damage in the second quarter as the Chargers rallied from an early 6-0 deficit, product of Doherty’s fluttering, deflected, 17-yard fourth-down toss that found Jacob Lewis in the end zone five plays after Jonathan Hall collected the first of two Hogue fumbles at the 34-yard line on Edison’s first offensive play.

The Chargers were ahead four plays into the second quarter, when Awad found Hurley open about 15 yards downfield. Hurley spun away from a group of would-be tacklers and sprinted down the left sideline for a 78-yard touchdown.

Hogue made it 14-6 on Edison’s next offensive play, sprinting through a hole up the middle and outrunning the Olympians’ secondary for a 66-yard touchdown. He scored again on the next possession, zigzagging 15 yards through Leuzinger’s defense right after Awad’s 41-yard bomb to York down the left sideline followed a Dominic Lopez interception deep in Chargers territory.

“I think we learned we can handle ourselves against any defense,” said Hurley, who also had 22- and 30-yard receptions when Edison marched to the Olympians’ 18 in the first quarter, a drive that ended with a fourth-down incompletion. “We put up big numbers against Venice but only got a quarter and a half, but we [went against] a really good defense this week and proved we can play against anyone.”

Nicholas Preston kicked a 23-yard field goal after a drive sputtered inside the Leuzinger 10 midway through the third quarter, and Awad found Tripp at the back of the end zone for a 12-yard score — two plays after a fourth-down personal-foul penalty kept a drive alive — two minutes into the fourth quarter to make it 31-6.

Edison’s defense was superb. Leuzinger (0-1) was limited to 27 yards rushing — just a dozen yards through the first three quarters — and limited Doherty’s effectiveness. The Manhattan Beach Mira Costa transfer finished with 320 yards on 21 of 37 passing — Calimon had 10 catches for 199 yards — but 172 of those yards came on the final two drives. He was sacked five times — three of them by Jake Giles — and intercepted twice.

“We did a really good job defensively,” Grady said. “We flew around, put pressure on the quarterback all night. Our defensive front played fantastic.”

Nonleague

Edison 31, Lawndale Leuzinger 22

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Leuzinger 6 - 0 - 0 - 16 — 22

Edison 0 - 21 - 3 - 7 — 31

FIRST QUARTER

L — Lewis 17 pass from Doherty (kick blocked), 7:19.

SECOND QUARTER

E — Hurley 78 pass from Awad (Preston kick), 10:58.

E — Hogue 66 run (Preston kick), 8:48.

E — Hogue 15 run (Preston kick), 3:59.

THIRD QUARTER

E — Preston 23 FG, 5:52.

FOURTH QUARTER

E — Tripp 12 pass from Awad (Preston kick), 9:55.

L — Calimon 22 pass from Doherty (Lewis pass from Doherty), 1:48.

L — Calimon 80 pass from Doherty (Lewis pass from Doherty), 0:51.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

L — Shallowhorn, 9-34; Harris, 5-29.

E — Hogue, 11-82, 2 TDs; Awad 5-33.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

L — Doherty, 21-37-2, 320, 3 TDs.

E — Awad, 17-25-0, 299, 2 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

L — Calimon, 10-199, 2 TDs; Lewis, 3-57, 1 TD; Myles, 5-39; Harris, 2-33.

E — Hurley, 6-152, 1 TD; York, 5-117; Tripp, 4-44, 1 TD.

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