Edison faces first test

Two teams with similar styles put their undefeated records on the line in the young season today when Edison hosts Dana Hills in a key nonleague game.

Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Huntington Beach High and the game marks the home opener for Edison, which has spent the first two weeks of the season on the road.

“We’re excited to be playing a home game,” Edison Coach Dave White said. “It should be a great game. Dana Hill’s is a very good team.”

Both the Chargers and Dolphins have rolled past their first two opponents and both have displayed potent offenses and stingy defenses. Edison comes into the game averaging 53 points and Dana Hills has scored an average of 50. Defensively, the Chargers have given up just one touchdown in two games.

For the second straight week, Edison cruised to victory. Last Friday, the Chargers routed host Long Beach Wilson, turning a 28-0 lead into an eventual, 48-7 victory. In his first game at quarterback, junior Chase Favreau threw for 173 yards and had touchdown passes to Bryce Campbell, Troy Baljeu (two) and Curren Provost. Donald Rice rushed for a touchdown and the Edison defense got into the scoring act, as well, with defensive ends Charles Burks returning a fumble recovery 40 yards for a score and Gavin Perdomo scoring on a 25-yard interception return.

“We’re getting better, and that’s what you want to see,” said White. “Defensively, I thought Michael Douthwaite had a great game at middle linebacker and Dehvon Brown did a great job on the line. And Charles Burks was a monster at end. He just ripped the ball out of the runner’s hands and returned it for a touchdown.

“Offensively, Chase had a good first game. Although Nick Masaniai didn’t quite rush for as many yards as he did against Artesia, he had some key blocks in the backfield. And it was great to have Troy (Baljeu) back. He had some big catches.”

Baljeu, who broke his jaw during Edison’s passing league tournament in July, missed Edison’s Sept. 3 opener at Artesia.

Dana Hills also improved to 2-0 last week by pummeling host Aliso Niguel, 51-17. Dolphins quarterback Trent Mason accounted for 312 yards of offense — 221 through the air — and five touchdowns, two of which were passes to Chris Kearney, who also rushed for two other scores.

“Dana Hills is explosive,” White said. “They are getting tons of big plays and that’s something we can’t give up if we want to win. You can’t give Mason more than 200 yards through the air, or let Kearney make those big receptions. The key for us will be keeping the big plays to a minimum, and not turn the ball over on offense.

“This game will be a good gauge to see where we are so far. After this game, we have two more big ones before league starts.”

Temescal Canyon (1-0) vs. Fountain Valley (0-2), 7 p.m. today, at Westminster High: After opening the season with a pair of road games in Nevada and San Clemente, Fountain Valley starts its home slate by hosting Temescal Canyon at Westminster High.

Last week, the Barons fell, 59-24, at San Clemente. Ryan Balzer, Montana Merhoff and Rob Young rushed for touchdowns and Christian Rodriguez kicked a 34-yard field goal to account for the Barons’ scoring.

Temescal Canyon got its season off to a great start last Friday when Michael Shepherd scored on a short run and two-point conversion late in the game to lift the Titans to a 28-27 victory over Tahquitz. Shepherd rushed for 221 yards on 41 carries and scored all four of his team’s touchdowns.

Marina (0-1) vs. Westminster (0-1), 7 p.m. Friday, at Westminster High: Two neighboring schools, both of whom call Westminster’s Bill Boswell Field home, clash in the Black/Blue Game, which has been held since 1963, Vikings Coach George Pascoe said. Both teams are seeking victory No. 1 in 2010.

Marina started its season last Friday at Capo Valley. The Vikings couldn’t overcome a slow start and eventually fell to the Cougars, 21-6. After trailing, 14-0, after the first quarter, the Vikings climbed back into the game when quarterback Nick Marshall and Brayde Hill teamed up on a 35-yard scoring pass play in the second quarter.

“We must do a better job controlling the football and keep the defense off the field,” Pascoe said, adding that the Vikings had just four first downs in the game and 47 snaps on offense to 60 for Capo Valley.

Westminster was overpowered by Garden Grove, 46-14, in its opener last Friday. Lions quarterback Dominic Pendergrass threw touchdown passes to Carlos Torres and Andrew Nguyen.

“This will be another good game in this series,” Pascoe said. “Both teams need to rebound from their first week and get better. Both teams need to tackle better. The team that improves in that area the most will win.”

Foothill (1-1) vs. Huntington Beach (0-1), 7 p.m. Friday, at Huntington Beach High: Huntington Beach opens its home schedule by hosting former Sea View League rival Foothill.

The Knights rallied to win their first game last week, scoring 13 points in the fourth quarter to slip past Beckman, 13-12. Quarterback Josh Peterman threw for 144 yards and a pair of touchdowns for Foothill, which opened the season with a 42-27 loss to city rival Tustin.

Huntington wasn’t as fortunate last week in its opener as the Oilers fell, 16-10, to host Corona del Mar. The Sea Kings hit a pair of fourth-quarter field goals to break a 10-10 tie, then withstood a last-minute drive by the Oilers to hold on for the win.

Huntington opened the season having to replace all of its skill players from a year ago. In addition, Oilers Coach Eric Lo sat out six players for the first quarter of the game after the players arrived late to a team meeting on game day.

Quarterback Michael Chislock, one of the six players who sat out the opening quarter, came on to throw for 108 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown pass to Ramon Vargas on his third play from scrimmage.

Max Talbert hit a 38-yard field goal to give Huntington a 10-7 lead. Junior Austin Simpkins rushed for 113 yards in his first start.

“We got the first-game jitters out of the way, and now it’s on to Foothill,” Lo said. “By sitting out those six kids in the first quarter, we wanted to send a message that everyone needs to be on time. Having done that takes nothing away from any of them, as all six are really great kids. Michael (Chislock) is a great kid who did a nice job in his first start, especially considering that he entered the game late. I thought Austin (Simpkins) ran the ball really well, too.”

“Foothill’s a good football team and Coach (Doug) Case does a great job with that program. Even though we played them in league the last few years, they have a bit of a different look this year. They used to run a spread offense, but now they go from under center. Defensively, they appear to be the same.”

Laguna Beach (0-1) vs. Ocean View (1-1), 7 p.m. Friday, at Ocean View High: Ocean View finished strong Saturday against Calvary Chapel by scoring the final 21 points to pull away to its first win of the season, 28-7. Timmy Robinson rushed for a game-high 182 yards and a touchdown, quarterback Nolan Tippy threw for 155 yards — including a 29-yard touchdown pass to Colton Johnson — Elijah Nolasco-Blas rushed for a touchdown and Brian Hernandez booted field goals of 37 and 36 yards for the Seahawks.

“Calvary Chapel was a good test for us,” Ocean View Coach Harold Eggers said. “We wanted to see how the kids would respond after the tough lost to Western. Defensively we improved tremendously. With the exception of one defensive play, I think we controlled the game. Calvary had some solid skilled position kids, which concerned us. I think our secondary, led by Blake Walker and Colton Johnson, did a good job. Tyren Hudson played well on the defensive line and the linebacking crew was led by Michael Congelliere and Timmy Robinson.

“On offense, I think our biggest improvement came from the offensive line. Coach (Luis) Nunez has done a great job getting our offensive line ready to play. Timmy Robinson ran hard, and Noland Tippy at quarterback took control of the game by leading the team on three scoring drives. All in all, it was a team effort and we saw improvement in a number of different phases of the game.”

Laguna Beach opened its season at home Friday and was outscored by Northwood, 62-27. Breakers quarterback Austin Paxson, a first-team All-Orange Coast League player last year, threw for 236 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those touchdown passes went to his favorite receiver, senior Chris Paul, who was the Orange Coast League Most Valuable Player last year.

“Laguna Beach is a solid football team,” Eggers said. “They like to throw the ball. It should be an exciting evening. I believe that if you can throw the ball you always have a chance, or at least it will be exciting.

“If we are to be successful this Friday, we will have to continue to improve. Laguna Beach has the ability to score fast and often. We will have to be on top of our game.”

Century (0-1) vs. Brethren Christian (1-1), 6:30 p.m. Friday, at Clark Field, Long Beach: Brethren Christian will be out to make it two wins in a row when it hosts Century at Clark Field in Long Beach.

The Warriors last week overcame a 6-0 deficit to record a 19-14 victory against visiting Bloomington Christian. Junior quarterback Samuel Franklin threw for 97 yards and a touchdown to senior receiver Alex Debardelaben and also rushed 14 times for 155 yards, including a 62-yard touchdown.

“We let Bloomington hold onto the ball too long and control the clock,” Brethren Christian Coach Bruce Eien said. “We must not let Century do the same with their wing-T offense. They are a big team in size and numbers. On offense, we need to get the ball to Alex Debardelaben and our running game going with Sam Franklin.”

Eien said that injured junior receiver/linebacker Jonathan Vasquez is questionable for Friday’s game.

Century hasn’t played since it dropped its opener Sept. 3, 41-14, to Calvary Chapel (Santa Ana).