A new season begins

There was no time to rest on laurels last weekend for the Edison High football program.

Three days after claiming a share of the Sunset League championship, the Chargers coaching staff went to work watching game film, and then prepared a game plan for the “third” part to the 2006 prep football season.

That third leg of the season begins Friday for several schools throughout the Southern Section, as the CIF playoffs get underway.

At 7:30 p.m. Friday, Edison will host Crespi of Encino at Orange Coast College in a Pac-5 Division first-round game.

Eighth-ranked Edison, 8-2 overall, is the second-place team from the Sunset League.

Crespi, an all-boys parochial school, is the No. 2 team out of the Serra League.

“We’re excited for the playoffs,” Edison Coach Dave White said. “It’s another challenge for our kids. They’ve really responded well since losing to Esperanza and did a great job of winning three straight games to earn a share of the title.”

On Nov. 9, the Chargers earned a share of the Sunset title with Esperanza by defeating host Los Alamitos, 28-7, at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.

Junior quarterback Nick Crissman threw for 149 yards and three touchdowns, with Hunter White, Dominique Vinson and Jacob Slaton each getting a TD reception. Areseo Lakey also rushed for a score.

White — who wears jersey No. 2 and is the son of head coach Dave White — and Vinson, who wears No. 3, are two returning honors players from a year ago and both have stepped up to lead the Chargers on both sides of the ball this year.

Vinson is a two-way starter at wide receiver and defensive back. His 53 receptions this year have resulted in 724 yards and nine touchdowns. On defense, he’s been in on 45 tackles and has five interceptions.

White has gone from being former Chargers ball boy to ball hawk as a player. Also a two-way starter, he has 54 receptions for 906 yards and seven touchdowns as a receiver and has rushed for another score. At linebacker, he is credited with 77 tackles (22 solo), has four sacks and two interceptions.

Perhaps the most telling sign of the duo’s talents came during the fourth week of the season against Servite.

In a close game in the fourth quarter, Vinson came up with a game-turning play by returning an interception 41 yards for a touchdown. Later in the quarter, White followed suit and returned a pick 45 yards for a clinching score, as the Chargers came away with a 28-13 victory.

The two first played together as freshmen. Vinson started at quarterback and White at receiver on that freshman team. The two held those roles during nonleague play, but for Sunset League competition, they switched positions.

Edison went on to win the league championship and finished 9-1, the loss coming on the last play of a nonleague game against Mater Dei.

“They are both three-year starters and have been everything to us in the big games,” Dave White said.

Edison’s defense has been dominant on several occasions this year. White said — and the final score backs up his statement — that the Chargers defense played “one bad game” in a 38-0 loss to Esperanza a month ago. Since then, the Chargers haven’t given up more than a touchdown in their final three league games, which have resulted in decisive wins over Newport Harbor, Fountain Valley and Los Alamitos.

By defeating Los Alamitos, Edison earned a share of its second straight Sunset League championship, something the school hadn’t accomplished since winning titles in 1989 and 1990. Coincidently during the 1989 postseason, Edison and Crespi met in the first round of the playoffs, a game the Chargers won, 20-10.

Edison has won or shared the Sunset title in four of the past six years, sharing it this year with Esperanza.

Crespi enters Friday’s first-round game with a 6-4 record. The Celts went 2-1 in Serra League play and finished behind undefeated Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, the top-ranked team in the Pac-5 Division.

Crespi had a four-game win streak halted last week by Notre Dame, which scored a 21-3 victory to win the Serra League title outright.

Spearheading the Crespi attack is junior quarterback Kevin Prince, the passing leader in the Serra League. Prince has thrown for 1,422 yards and 12 touchdowns with a 56% completion percentage.

Prince has also thrown five interceptions in 10 games. The Celts have one of the Serra League’s top rushers in Austin Shanks, who is second among league rushers with 891 yards and nine touchdowns.

Defensively, junior back Mark Watley leads the league with 80 tackles. Senior end D.J. Holt and junior back EJ Woods are two playmakers, with Holt leading the league in sacks with 12 and Woods adding five to his credit.

Crespi seems like a team ready for the playoffs. A challenging nonleague schedule saw the Celts lose by two points to Centennial of Corona (No. 1, Inland Conference), suffer their most lopsided loss of the year in a 40-14 defeat to St. Bonaventure of Ventura (No. 2, Northern Conference) and be the victims of a last-second field goal in a 38-35 loss to Canyon of Canyon Country (No. 3, Northern Conference).

In league play, the Celts defeated both Bishop Amat (35-14) and Loyola (41-7) before losing last week to Notre Dame.

“We have a very tough first-round game,” White said. “Crespi is a solid team that has lost a few tough games. They’re pretty balanced on offense and have some key players on defense.”

Edison and Crespi have met up three prior times in postseason play, with Edison having won two of the previous meetings.

The ’82 and ’89 contests — both Edison victories — were played at Orange Coast College, the site of Friday’s game.

“Hopefully, that’s a good omen for us,” White said.

The Edison-Crespi winner moves on to the quarterfinals on Nov. 24 against the winner of Friday’s first-round matchup between Servite and Long Beach Wilson.