Win sets up rematch

Thirteen months ago, Edison and Orange Lutheran met on the football field for the first time and all that was at stake was, well, only a CIF-Southern Section Pac-5 Division championship.

That initial meeting last December at the Home Depot Center in Carson went Orange Lutheran’s way as the Lancers claimed the title with a 30-20 victory.

The Lancers used that win as a springboard to winning a state championship the following week.

Friday night at OCC, the rematch is on as Orange Lutheran will host Edison at 7:30 p.m. in a quarterfinal round showdown.

There are some new faces on both sidelines this year, but still there are plenty of players back who appeared in last year’s finale.

“We have a lot of guys who played in last year’s title game and they are excited about getting another opportunity to play Orange Lutheran,” Edison Coach Dave White said. “They are defending state champions, have a superstar in (Blake) Ayles and are solid all-around, but we’re up for the challenge. We’re playing really well right now.”

So is Orange Lutheran, but Lancers Coach Jim Kunau knows his team will need to maintain its current level of play, in order to move on to next week’s semifinals.

“I think it’s going to be a great, competitive match-up,” he said. “One of the really positive things for us about playing Edison is that we have total respect for their coaching staff, players and program. It’s really a positive atmosphere.

“We know that if we don’t play well, we’ll be in trouble. And the same goes for Edison. I think that both teams might do some things the same as they did last year but both, I feel, are totally different teams with different personalities, than the ones that played for the title last year.”

Edison comes into the game on a five-game win streak and Orange Lutheran has won its last three games by an average score of 36-8.

Edison’s postseason journey began Nov. 16 with a 28-10 victory over visiting Compton. The Sunset League co-champions spotted Compton a 7-0 lead but never trailed again.

The Chargers defense shutout the Tarbabes in the second half.

Compton came into the first-round game averaging 41 points a game and the 10 points were the fewest the Tarbabes had scored all year.

“The kids played a great game and our defense did another fantastic job,” White said. “We shut down their rushing game which had been averaging more than 200 yards a game.

“Our offense line did a nice job of protecting Nick (Crissman) and Areseo (Lakey) had a big night.”

Lakey rushed for 98 yards and two touchdowns and also scored Edison’s first TD on a 48-yard pass play from Crissman in the first quarter that tied the score at 7-7.

Mike Bogard also scored on a 20-yard pass from Crissman in the third quarter to boost Edison’s lead to 21-10.

Crissman, who missed a few games this year and is a UCLA commit, has thrown for 1,616 yards and 12 touchdowns. He had 168 yards and two TDs in the win over Compton.

Orange Lutheran also began the postseason last Friday with a 28-7 victory over Mission Viejo. Ricky Pemasa scored on three short runs and Tyson Seneca also ran for a score for the Lancers.

Quarterback Blake Hyepock threw for 223 yards and had an interception. Hyepock, who took over the reigns from Aaron Corp, last year’s state player (CalHiSports.com) of the year who is now at USC, had thrown for 1,948 yards and 14 touchdowns. The senior’s only been intercepted three times all year. His two favorite targets this year have been Cody Smith and USC-bound Blake Ayles.

Ayles leads the team in receiving with 627 yards and eight TDs on 41 receptions.

The Lancers have balance in a rushing game that has three players with more than 400 yards apiece led by Pemasa who has 573 yards on 84 carries.

The Lancer defense came up with four interceptions against Mission Viejo and now has held six of its 10 opponents to a touchdown or less.

Edison and Orange Lutheran have common opponents this year in Los Alamitos, Servite and Mater Dei. The Chargers lost all three of those games, with two of those losses by six points or less, while the Lancers went 2-1 with their loss coming to Servite.

“Our two goals were to win the Sunset League and be practicing on Thanksgiving morning,” White said. “We’re doing that and we’re excited about Friday’s game.

“I expect Orange Lutheran to play well but I also expect us to play well. We’ve coming into this game with a lot of confidence.”