Sign of big things to come?

Edison High football coach Dave White said the outcome — to him, anyway — of Saturday’s Battle at the Beach passing tournament came as a surprise.

His own Chargers won the ninth annual event, a 16-team tournament at Edison that attracted several of the top prep programs in the CIF Southern Section and San Diego Section. Reigning league champions and two defending Southern Section division champions from last fall competed in the one-day event that attracted a large crowd.

“It was a great atmosphere,” he said.

White said he never questioned the talent or ability of his current team, but with several holes to fill at key positions due to the graduation of players last year’s team, combined with staunch competition in the tournament, he was cautious of how his team would fare.

“It showed the competitiveness we have,” White said of his Chargers winning a tournament out of a field of teams that included Mater Dei, Los Alamitos, Santa Margarita, La Habra, Trabuco Hills, Foothill, Tesoro, Orange Lutheran, JSerra, Carlsbad, Corona Centennial, South Hills, Valencia/Valencia, Chaparral and Murietta Valley. “Being competitive was the one thing we asked them to be, and they did that. That we won this thing again was a bonus.”

Edison, which won last year’s tournament, has been in the championship game in each of the last three years.

En route to the title, the Chargers defeated Santa Margarita, Trabuco Hills and reigning Inland Division titlist Centennial of Corona in pool play. Following pool play, the top eight teams moved on to the championship division. In the quarterfinal round, Edison defeated defending Southeast Division champion La Habra. In the semifinal round, the Chargers upended Sunset League rival Los Alamitos and in the title game beat Valencia of Valencia.

A crowd estimated at 1,000 watched the tournament finale. The win over Los Alamitos atoned for an overtime defeat the Chargers suffered to the Griffins last month in a Dana Hills passing league game.

White said that although everyone “played well,” he said tournament standouts for Edison were senior Jeff Crissman (receiver/defensive back), junior Wade Houston (tailback/safety), junior Matt Viles (quarterback) and junior Jeff Trojan (receiver).

“We beat some good programs. All six teams we played were CIF teams last year, and two won CIF titles,” White said. “We had two really close games against Centennial of Corona and Los Alamitos that went down to the wire. We just made the big plays when we needed to.

“I was really pleased with how we ended our summer practice. We really improved throughout the summer, from the weight room to the field. That was really important for us to do because we have some younger kids who are stepping into playing roles this year. If we stay healthy this fall, we could contend for another Sunset League championship.”

Edison, which has won or shared the last three Sunset League titles, begins preseason practice Aug. 4. The Chargers open their 2008 season on Aug. 23 in Maui.

  North-South All-Star Game

La Habra’s Chris Morales threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Christian Daniel of Canyon with 56 seconds left Friday to lift the North past the South, 12-10, in the 49th annual Orange County All-Star Football Game at Orange Coast College.

The winning pass capped a five-play, 97-yard scoring drive engineered in the final two minutes of the game.

Local players suiting up for the South were Tim Atencio of Marina, Justin Niutapuai of Huntington Beach, Blayne Anderson, Mike Bogard, Eric Smith and Earnie Sagiao of Edison, and Bryce Blake and T.J. Tafoga of Fountain Valley.

With the win, the North increased its lead in the series to 25-21-3.