Finally in a league of their own

The preliminaries are over.

It’s time to get down to business.

The race for a league championship begins in earnest tonight, with

Huntington Beach making its Sunset League debut on the road. League and

city rivals Edison and Marina high schools go at each other on Friday as

Ocean View begins Golden West League play against Saddleback.

TONIGHT

Huntington Beach (2-3) vs. Esperanza (3-2)

(at Valencia High, 7 p.m.)

The Oilers have a little momentum heading into league play, having

defeated Dana Hills last week. They will need to score early, control the

ball behind a rushing game featuring quarterback Phil Amico, fullback Jim

Niutapuai and tailback Patrick Harrigan, and come up with a defensive

effort similar to the one they used in their 16-8 win over Dana Hills.

Defending league champion Esperanza is coming off a 35-13 loss to the

county’s top ranked team, Mission Viejo. The Aztecs averted a shutout by

scoring twice in the game’s final 10 seconds. Running back Shawn

Wildenstein, with 821 yards and six touchdowns in five games, leads the

Aztecs on offense. He gained 308 of those yards in a win over Fallbrook

in week No. 3 of the season. Esperanza enters the game ranked 10th in the

latest CIF Division I poll.

Last year’s score: Esperanza 30, Huntington Beach 11

FRIDAY

Edison (4-0) vs. Marina (2-3)

(at Westminster High, 7 p.m.)

The Chargers, ranked fourth in Division I, survived a tough nonleague

schedule and came up with a spirited second half rally last week to

defeat previously unbeaten Servite and finish unbeaten heading into

league play for the second time in three years. Now, they’ll begin a

quest for their first Sunset title since 1990. The weapons are plentiful

on both sides of the ball for Edison. A prolific offense has seen Tommy

Grady pass for 794 yards -- he has yet to be intercepted -- and receiver

Denny Flanagan account for 388 yards. Big play maker A.J. Martinez has

been a terror on both offense and defense, and last week rushed for one

touchdown and block Servite’s attempt for a go-ahead field goal late in

the fourth quarter. A critical block by A.J. Martinez set up a

Grady-to-Flanagan 67-yard touchdown pass for the winning score.

“We had a lot of guys come up with big plays against Servite and

A.J.’s block was huge,” Edison Coach Dave White said. “He did an

outstanding job for us on both sides of the ball and is having a terrific

senior year.”

Martinez led Edison’s rushing attack against the Friars with 72 yards

on just nine carries.

Edison is averaging 32 points per game and will go up against a Marina

defense that has given up an average of 26 points an outing.

In Marina, the Chargers face a team that is explosive on offense. The

Vikings, though, have been plagued by turnovers the past few weeks.

“They have a very dangerous backfield in (Turill) Engleman and (Adam)

Hayward,” White said. “They both can break a big run any time and they

are quite capable of putting points up on the scoreboard.”

Engleman paces the Marina backfield with a 6.2 rushing average. The

Vikings average 22 points per game.

Last year’s score: Edison 28, Marina 3

Ocean View (1-4) vs. Saddleback (0-5)

(at Santa Ana Bowl, 7 p.m.)

This may be Ocean View’s best chance at a win in league play, although

both the Seahawks and Saddleback have given up an identical average of 32

points to their opponents. The Roadrunners average fewer points

offensively than Ocean View -- 15 to 10. This might turn out to be a high

scoring affair, though. The Seahawks will need to key on the Roadrunners’

tiny sophomore running back, Ramiro Chavez, who is averaging 5.6 yards

per carry. Last year’s score: Ocean View 48, Saddleback 41