High School Football: Hot Chargers keep it going

Edison left little doubt last Friday as to who would reign as Sunset League football champion in 2012.

In a game where the outcome would have a direct bearing on the league race, the host Chargers sewed up an outright title for the second consecutive year by controlling Huntington Beach, 34-0, at Cap Sheue Field.

Edison, the top-seeded team in the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division playoffs, has, indeed, controlled the Sunset League the past two years. Friday’s win capped a second straight 5-0 league finish and put the Chargers’ league win streak at 10. The title was their seventh in the last eight years.

The Chargers are 9-1 overall and have won six straight.

“To be league champs again, well, it can’t get better than that,” Edison Coach Dave White said. “If you had told me that the score would be 34-0, I would have said, ‘no way.’ Huntington has been playing really well and they, too, were playing for a league championship. I just thought our guys did a real good job.”

Huntington (5-5, 3-2), which would have gained a share of the league title with a victory Friday, came into the game on a roll, having won four of its previous five games. The outcome left the Oilers with sole possession of third place which gave them the league’s final automatic playoff berth.

Newport Harbor wrapped up second place on Nov. 1 with an overtime victory over Los Alamitos.

“I thought they were more physical than us,” Huntington Beach Coach Eric Lo said of the Chargers. “The second thing, is that any time a play needed to be made, we couldn’t come up with one. Our defense didn’t play well on the ball tonight.

“I just told the kids after the game, that we can’t hang our heads. We have to learn from this, and move on. We now have to turn our focus on the [CIF] playoffs.”

Edison’s defense got its fifth shutout of the season, which is a new school record. In league play, the unit surrendered only 17 points. The Chargers also have held three other opponents to a touchdown or less.

“Our defense was unbelievable and played lights out,” White said. “They really controlled the line of scrimmage and really didn’t give Huntington anything. Huntington has a very good offense, and we were able to contain them.”

Senior running back Marquis Ross scored Edison’s first touchdown on a one-yard run. Ross’ score was set up one down earlier on an 89-yard pass play between senior receiver Trevor Borkowski and senior quarterback Aleksander Torgersen. Borkowski later took in a 15-yard scoring pass, and junior Hunter Kelley kicked a pair of field goals in the first half which ended with the Chargers up, 20-0.

Torgersen scored on a pair of keepers in the second half. He threw for 264 yards, 193 of which went to Borkowski.

Edison drew the No. 1 seed for the Southwest Division playoffs which start Friday . The Chargers host Esperanza at 7 p.m. at Orange Coast College.

Huntington is on the road for its first postseason game and will play at 7 p.m. at Capistrano Valley.

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Brethren Christian

With their season hanging in the balance last Friday , the Warriors picked up a huge victory on the road to extend their campaign.

BC earned the second and final automatic playoff bid from the Academy League by outscoring host Crean Lutheran, 14-0, in the second half to produce a 21-7 victory. The game determined which team would finish in second place behind league champ St. Margaret’s.

Junior Jared Fuga rushed for 183 yards and three touchdowns as the Warriors overcame three turnovers, losing an onside kick, and giving up a long gain on a fake punt, all in the first half, to finish 2-1 in league and 6-4 overall. The win advanced the Warriors to the CIF Southern Section East Valley Division playoffs. They open postseason play at 7 p.m. Friday at Big Bear.

“We ran the ball and got the lead, so we struck with our run game,” BC Coach Pat McInally said. “We were playing to go to the playoffs, so we played things close to the vest.

“Our offensive line and defensive line controlled the game. It was the big guys up front, who really got us into the playoffs.”

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Fountain Valley

Football took a back seat last Friday for the Barons who closed out their season with a 31-13 victory over Marina. The Barons played the game without senior two-way lineman J.D. Hinnant who was injured in a car accident just hours before the game.

The Barons dedicated the game to their all-league and heavily recruited teammate.

Coach John Shipp said Tuesday that among the injuries Hinnant, whom he visited Monday at UC Irvine Medical Center, suffered were a concussion and fractured pelvis.

“He’s doing much better. He’s coherent, and moving around, and those are really good signs,” Shipp said. “The accident happened so close to us preparing for the game, that we weren’t sure if we were going to play it. We brought in the seniors for a meeting, and they said that they were going to play for J.D., and dedicated the game to him.

“Seeing that No. 76 (Hinnant’s jersey number) banner out there before the game, really brought it home. Our guys knew that they were playing for something much bigger than a football game.”

Senior quarterback Chris d’Entremont threw for 282 yards with three touchdown passes for the Barons who took fifth place in the Sunset League. Sophomore receiver Ryan Finley had TD receptions of 65 and 62 yards, and finished with 175 yards receiving. Junior receiver Jacob Church caught a 31-yard scoring pass and had a 43-yard punt return that set up a seven-yard scoring run by senior running back Steele Escobedo. Senior Derek Huynen kicked a 31-yard field goal.

Fountain Valley, which lost four games this year by a touchdown or less, finished the year 4-6 overall and 1-4 in league.

“Our kids went out every week and played their butts off,” Shipp said. “We right there, and could have won any of those games we lost. I really liked our senior class. It’s a great group of kids.”

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Marina

The Vikings concluded their season Nov. 2 against Fountain Valley, and fell, 31-13, to the Barons.

Senior back Eli Cabaccang scored twice including on a 66-yard pass play from junior quarterback Austin Sojka. Cabaccang’s first score came on a four-yard scoring run that brought the Vikings to within 10-7 in the third quarter. He led the Vikings in both rushing and receiving and finished with 147 yards of total offense in 11 plays. Sojka threw for 167 yards.

A highlight of Marina’s 3-7 (0-5 league) season came in its third game of the season. On Sept. 7, the Vikings defeated rival Westminster, 21-14, in the annual Black and Blue Game. Westminster went on to close out the regular season with five straight wins to claim the Golden West League championship.

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Ocean View

The Seahawks finished in a three-way tie for third place in the final Golden West League standings after falling, 28-17, to Loara last Friday at Glover Stadium in Anaheim. The Seahawks also lost out on a coin flip for the league’s No. 3 playoff berth. Loara won the coin toss and is the league’s No. 3 team, joining league champion Westminster and Segerstrom, in the playoffs.

Orange was the other team to tie for third place.

Senior quarterback Dallas Broge hit senior receiver Reo Washington on an 80-yard touchdown pass and also rushed for a one-yard touchdown, senior Cristian Negrete kicked a 38-yard field goal, and senior running back Nate Kwon rushed for 196 yards for the Seahawks.

“I was proud of my kids’ effort, as I thought we played good enough to win,” Ocean View Coach Luis Nunez said. “We moved the ball all night and got a solid performance from Nate Kwon and the [offensive] line. We had two costly turnovers in the first half, gave up too many big plays defensively, and were penalized six times for being aggressive. The penalties and turnovers were too much to overcome.”

Nunez’s first Ocean View team finished the season 4-6 overall and 2-3 in league play.

“We were a win away and coin flip away from making the playoffs with a very young and inexperience group,” Nunez said. “The foundation is set and we will continue to use the offseason to get bigger and stronger. Our frosh-soph team went 9-1, winning the Golden West League for the first time in years. We are headed in the right direction and excited to get going again.”

michael.sciacca@latimes.com

Twitter: @MikeSciacca