Edison Has Arcadia’s Number

The county’s No. 1 ranking has been a thankless responsibility for the team unlucky enough to hold it, and Edison Coach Dave White isn’t lining up to apply for the position either.

“I don’t want it,” White said Friday night after his unbeaten, second-ranked Chargers submitted their bid for the hot-potato top spot with a 34-7 victory over Arcadia before 3,000 at Huntington Beach High. “John Barnes is used to it. Let him have it.”

Barnes’ top-ranked Los Alamitos team managed to stay undefeated with an unimpressive 13-7 victory over Kennedy on Thursday.

But Edison looked good enough Friday to warrant consideration for the No. 1 spot, which has been occupied by a different team each of the last four weeks.

Darryl Poston, the county’s leading rusher, had 174 yards and a touchdown in 21 carries, giving him 925 yards and a 9.5 per-carry average this season for an Edison team averaging 41 points per game.

And the Edison defense held Arcadia (2-3) to 124 yards and zero points after spotting the Apaches a 7-0 lead on Quincy Williams’ 73-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

“I think we’re a bit better than last year,” said White, whose team heads into Sunset League play with a 5-0 record for the first time since 1994. “We’re still young, but I like our chances in league.”

After some clumsy moments in the first quarter--a fumble on the opening kickoff, only 10 men on defense for one play--the Chargers woke up after Williams’ big run.

Poston’s 52-yard scoring run, Richard Schwartz’s 54-yard touchdown pass to Denny Flanagan, Travis Wilson field goals of 35 and 30 yards and a 50-yard touchdown run by Schwartz had the game in hand by the end of the third quarter.