Football: Edison and Los Alamitos on tap

Staff Writer

Oct. 30, 2009 5:44 PM PT

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I had to venture deep into the archives to find the last time I covered a game at Huntington Beach High--and wouldn’t you know it, it was the same matchup I’ll be seeing tonight: Los Alamitos versus Edison.

The Griffins pulled out a 28-21 victory in that game on Oct. 16, 2003, when quarterback Jimmy Barnes threw a short touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter.

Some things have changed then, including the spiffy new artificial turf at Sheue Field. But Edison Coach Dave White and Los Alamitos counterpart John Barnes are still two of the best high school coaches in Southern California.

Edison’s Matt Viles figures to be the top quarterback on the field tonight, though counterpart Dylan Lagarde helped Los Alamitos trounce Marina last week in his first varsity start since transferring from Long Beach Poly.

The key to the game could be Edison’s ability (or inability) to stop prolific Los Alamitos tailback Nick Richardson, who is averaging 181 yards rushing per game. The Chargers (7-0, 2-0) are off to their best start in White’s 24 years at the school, and I predict the success to continue.

I’ll have periodic scoring updates throughout the game.

--Ben Bolch

Varsity Times Insider

Ben Bolch

Ben Bolch has been a Los Angeles Times staff writer since 1999. He is serving his second stint as the UCLA beat writer, which seems fitting since he has covered almost every sports beat except hockey and horse racing. Bolch is also the author of the recently released book “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” He previously covered UCLA basketball from 2010-11 before going on to cover the NBA and the Clippers for five years. He happily traded in gobs of hotel points and airline miles to return to cover UCLA basketball and football in the summer of 2016. Bolch was once selected by NBA TV’s “The Starters” as the “Worst of the Week” after questioning their celebrity journalism-style questions at an NBA All-Star game and considers it one of his finer moments.