Edison faces old nemesis

Loyola has thrice knocked Edison out of playoffs. On Friday, Chargers have a chance to take revenge.The Edison High football team will take on an old postseason nemesis Friday when the Chargers battle the Loyola Cubs in a second-round CIF-Southern Section Division I game.

Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. at Huntington Beach High.

Edison (10-1) and Loyola (7-4) have meet three previous times, and in each instance the Cubs have put an end to Edison’s season.

Loyola won the first meeting between the schools, 20-13, in the second-round of the 1991 playoffs. The Cubs eliminated Edison, 21-14, in a second-round game in 2000. Last year they defeated the Chargers, 28-14, in a first-round game.

Edison is looking to advance past the second-round of the playoffs for the first time since the 2001 team reached the Division I championship game.

“It’s great to be moving on to the second round,” coach Dave White said. “We have a playoff history with Loyola, and it should be another good game.”

Top-ranked Edison advanced to the second round by defeating visiting Redlands, 21-7, Friday at Orange Coast College.

The Chargers overcame a sluggish offensive performance by coming up with an outstanding defense to beat the Terriers and notch their 10th consecutive victory.

The defense forced three turnovers and made a goal-line stand.

In its last two games, Edison’s defense has yielded just one touchdown. In its last four games, it has given up a total of 26 points, with two shutouts.

“I thought out defense did a real good job,” White said of its performance against Redlands. “We shut them down and really picked up the slack for our offense.”

Despite coming up empty inside the red zone a few times -- a spot where Edison generally has enjoyed much success throughout the season -- the Chargers got three touchdown passes from Brian Shrock, two of which went to Thomas Marcin.

Shrock has thrown for 2,285 yards in 11 games.

Defensively, David Baldwin leads Edison with 81 tackles and Samson Fuga has 10 sacks.

In Loyola, Edison will be taking on the No. 3 team out of the Serra League.

The Cubs opened the playoffs with a 20-16 road win over Moore League runner-up Lakewood. Senior quarterback Henry Burge threw a touchdown pass to Marcus Lawrence, and Russell Oka, a 5-foot-6 backup running back, rushed for 200 yards and another touchdown.

Oka replaced starting tailback Chad Peppars, who drew a one-game suspension after being ejected during the Cubs’ regular-season finale against St. John Bosco Nov. 11.

Peppars will be back against the Chargers and is 66 yards shy of reaching 1,000 yards rushing for the season.

Burge has thrown for 2,029 yards in 11 games. Lawrence (653 yards) and Taylor Joseph (619) are his two main receivers.

Adam Stout leads the Cubs’ defense with seven interceptions and 66 tackles.

Loyola opened the season with four victories. Two of its four losses have come to rivals Servite (29-28) and Mater Dei (19-16) in Serra League play. Edison played Servite and Mater Dei in nonleague play, and defeated both the Friars (27-7) and Monarchs (24-21).

The Loyola-Edison winner gets the winner of Friday’s quarterfinal round game between Citrus Belt League runner-up Colton and Serra League No. 1 Mater Dei in a Dec. 2 semifinal game.

Semifinal-round coin flips were held Sunday. If Edison defeats Loyola and Colton defeats Mater Dei, then Edison will host Colton on Dec. 2 at Orange Coast College, White said. If Edison defeats Loyola and Mater Dei defeats Colton, then Mater Dei will host Edison on Dec. 2, probably at Santa Ana Stadium, White said.

In other CIF football action:

Huntington Beach saw its season come to an end in a 55-7 loss to Moore League champion Long Beach Poly in a first-round Division I game played at Long Beach Wilson High.

Stephen Gabbard rushed for 120 yards and scored the only touchdown for the Oilers, who finished the year 5-6.

PREP FOOTBALL LOGS

Edison Chargers (10-1)

(Sunset League champion)

13...at Kamehameha (HI)...21

43...at San Clemente...20

40...at Capo Valley...20

27...Servite...7

24...Mater Dei...21

34...at Esperanza...21

48...at Huntington Beach...0

27...Los Alamitos...19

34...Fountain Valley...0

31...Marina...7

...CIF Playoffs...

21...Redlands...7 Friday: vs. Loyola

(at Orange Coast College, 7:30 p.m.)

Huntington Beach Oilers (5-6)

28...at Los Amigos...35

37...Costa Mesa...14

19...at Laguna Hills...17

75...Century...7

25...Trabuco Hills...35

35...Los Alamitos...45

0...Edison...48

41...Fountain Valley...7

14...Marina...7

20...Esperanza...44

...CIF Playoffs...

7...Long Beach Poly...55

Marina Vikings (0-10)

6...at Los Osos...34

7...at Capistrano Valley....44

17...Newport Harbor...21

0...Mission Viejo...56

0...Paramount...26

0...at Fountain Valley...30

0...Los Alamitos...26

0...Esperanza...63

7...Huntington Beach...14

7...Edison...31

Ocean View Seahawks (2-7-1)

12...Santiago...19

14...Laguna Beach...14

0...at Century...7

0...Santa Ana...28

31...Magnolia...24

14...at Saddleback...21

20...Estancia...12

0...Costa Mesa...24

49...Orange...6

15...Westminster...4620051124iqdvdokn(LA)The Edison defense swarms a Redlands ball carrier during the 21-7 victory. 20051124iqdvd1knPHOTOS BY COURTENAY NEARBURG / INDEPENDENT(LA)Running back Caesare Nieto dominated the second half of Edison High Chargers’ CIF playoff victory against Redlands. 20051124iqdvdjknCOURTENAY NEARBURG / INDEPENDENT(LA)Edison Defensive lineman Chris Talataina motions that a fumble recovery goes in favor of the Chargers. He turned out to be correct.