Chargers move to 5-0

The Edison High football team put the finishing touches on a

perfect nonleague season Friday by running past the Arcadia Apaches,

34-7, on homecoming night at Huntington Beach High’s Sheue Field.

By avenging last year’s 35-14 loss at Arcadia, Edison, ranked seventh

in Division I, was able to complete its nonleague schedule with a 5-0

mark.

What’s more, it gives the Chargers added momentum heading into next

Friday’s Sunset League opener against Marina.

‘Now the real season begins,’ Edison Coach Dave White proclaimed

after watching his Chargers score the game’s final 34 points. ‘It’s great

to be 5-0 at this point of the season, but the next five weeks are the

most important of the season.’

Edison and running back Darryl Poston started slowly Friday, but

once they got rolling, the Chargers were hard to stop.

Despite not practicing all week, Poston was in the starting line-up

and, after being held to 12 yards on his first six carries, Orange

County’s top rusher (9.9. per carry average) burst his way for a 53-yard

touchdown run on a sweep around left end.

Travis Wilson’s point after brought the Chargers even at 7-7.

Poston’s run came four plays after Arcadia had taken a 7-0 lead on

star running back Quincy Williams’ 73-yard scoring run.

Poston ended the night by averaging 8.2 yards per carry, despite

not playing the final quarter.

The 5-foot-11, 171 pound junior rushed for 174 yards on 21 carries.

‘We’re banged up a bit, but Darryl did a nice job out there

tonight,’ White said of Poston, who is still feeling the affects of a

sprained left ankle, an injury suffered in the fourth quarter of last

week’s victory over Long Beach Wilson.

‘I thought our guys played pretty well, although we still need to

cut down on some mistakes. Other than giving up that big touchdown to

their running back, we shut Arcadia down.’

The Apaches (2-3) also suffered a major injury when starting

quarterback Mark Carroll went down early in the second quarter.

Carroll suffered an injury to his right elbow, and was icing the

joint on the Arcadia sideline the remainder of the first half.

Williams shifted over to fill Carroll’s spot, and ran out of the

shotgun the rest of the half.

Edison took advantage of the injury to Carroll and scored 10 second

quarter points to go up 17-7 at the break.

First, sophomore wide receiver Denny Flanagan took in a 55-yard

scoring pass from Richard Schwartz at the 8:22 mark of the second

quarter, and Travis Wilson nailed a 35-yard field goal with 49 seconds

remaining on the clock to pad the Charger lead to 10.

Schwartz had a big night for Edison.

After Wilson hit his second field goal of the night eight minutes

into the third quarter - this time, from 30 yards out, Schwartz scored on

a 49-yard option keeper. The 6-4, 184 junior came up with some nifty

moves on the play, too, as he emerged from a pile near the Arcadia

40-yard line, then zigzagged his way to the end zone.

White used his line up liberally in the final period, and

seldom-used Charles Linman finished the night’s scoring with a 12-yard

touchdown run with 1:23 to play.

Linman gained 66 yards on 10 carries - all in the final eight minutes

of the game.

‘It’s a nice feeling to finish our nonleague schedule with a 5-0

record,’ White said. ‘The kids have worked real hard both in the summer

and at practice, so this is a nice payoff for them. But as I said - now

comes the important part of the season.’