Edison, Servite meet Friday
Edison High football Coach Dave White said he thinks his team might have been looking ahead to Servite during last week’s win over Dana Hills.
Tough to blame them, since plenty of Orange County high school football fans have had the date circled on their calendars as well. The Friars (3-0) and Chargers (3-0) will finally rumble at 7 p.m. Friday at Huntington Beach High.
The game is Edison’s homecoming.
Servite is the top-ranked team in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division poll; the Friars have been there since a 30-7 dismantling of defending champion Long Beach Poly three weeks ago. The Los Angeles Times has Servite ranked as the No. 2 team in Southern California, behind only Crenshaw; Edison is at No. 6.
Calhisports.com also has Servite ranked No. 4 in the state; the site has Edison at No. 10.
“They’re the No. 1 team in Orange County, CIF and maybe Southern California,” White said. “We’ve got to fix the little things and play error-free football. They’re physical, have a good quarterback [Cody Fajardo] and good speed. They have everything you want for high school football. They don’t have any weaknesses we’re going to have to bring our ‘A’ game.”
Servite also passed another test when it topped Crespi, 38-28, last week. Crespi is ranked No. 7 in the Pac-5 Division.
Neither team has had a problem getting the ball into the end zone. Servite is averaging just over 38 points per game, while Edison is averaging 35. Neither team has been held under 30 points yet this season.
And, for Edison, Servite is the biggest test yet in a nonleague schedule that concludes next week with what is always another huge game: Mater Dei on Oct. 1 at Santa Ana Stadium.
“[Servite] is a big game, but we kind of want to go into it like we would every other game,” senior receiver Jeff Trojan said. “We want to try not to let the hype get to us, and go in there calm and collected. [We’re] excited of course, but we want to go in and do what we do and hopefully come out with the win.”
Senior linebacker Jordan Zumwalt is a question-mark for the Chargers. Zumwalt, who has verbally committed to Stanford, broke his left hand in practice last week and didn’t play against Dana Hills.
“I know he wants to be out there,” senior quarterback Matt Viles said. “If it’s not safe for him to play, we’ve got a lot more games this year. League hasn’t even started yet. But he wants to play and he’s a tough kid, so he might be out there against Servite.”
Here’s a look at other games on tap for Week 3:
TONIGHT
Marina (0-2) at Huntington Beach (0-2), 7 p.m.: Either the Vikings or the Oilers will get their first win of the year in the nonleague game.
Huntington Beach has started fine in each of its first two games but then lost momentum as the game went on. During last week’s 35-14 loss to Villa Park, the Oilers were ahead, 14-3, as senior quarterback Sean Guite found Jake Akerlind and Jack Dilbeck on touchdown passes. But the Oilers were outscored, 32-0, the rest of the way.
Huntington Beach gained just 57 yards in the second half, and certainly the Oilers want to improve a defense that’s given up an average of 44 points over their first two games.
“We had a tough time tackling and had a key turnover in the second half,” Coach Eric Lo said. “Marina is a big game for us. It’s our rival and both of us have to win. You don’t want to go 0-3.”
Marina has had chances in both of its first two games, including last week’s 14-7 loss to Westminster, when quarterback Nick Marshall found senior receiver Delano Douglas on a 63-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. But the Vikings have had trouble running the ball, and they’ll look to remedy that against the Oilers.
“We’re very disappointed in our start,” Marina Coach Dan Petrone said. “I think both [Marina and Huntington Beach] were expecting a bit different starts Our defense and special teams have played well, we just haven’t gotten the offensive production yet.”
Los Amigos (0-2) vs. Savanna (1-1) at Garden Grove High, 7 p.m.: The Lobos have been outscored, 95-20, in their first two games, a situation they’ll try to remedy against Savanna.
The Rebels, of the Orange League, would appear to be another tough opponent. They beat Loara, 7-6, in their opener while Los Amigos lost to Loara, 47-14, last week.
One bright spot for Los Amigos in the game loss to Loara was the play of sophomore running back Leonard Zamabrano, who had 30 carries for 158 yards and a touchdown.
FRIDAY
Fountain Valley (3-0) at Long Beach Millikan (3-0), 7 p.m.: The Barons continued their strong early-season play with a 34-10 victory over Temescal Canyon of Lake Elsinore last week.
Kyle Middlebrooks had two touchdown runs and Dominic Ragland had two touchdown passes for the Barons, one each to Ryan Steadman and Andrew Mosley.
Christian Rodriguez also kicked two field goals.
“I thought we played pretty well all in all,” Coach John Shipp said. “We tried to reduce the amount of penalties in that game.”
Now, Fountain Valley will be at Millikan, a team which Shipp said has athletes and good team speed. The Rams also have a good 1-2 running back combination in Darius Handy and Alden Darby, who have 220 and 191 yards, respectively.
Northwood (1-1) at Ocean View (1-1), 7 p.m.: The Seahawks were in last week’s game against University for most of it, as they were in a scoreless tie at halftime and down just 6-0 after three quarters of what ended up as a 22-0 loss.
Coach Harold Eggers said his team wasn’t helped by the fact that senior lineman Kody Afusia and junior cornerback/receiver Blake Walker each had to leave the game with what was possibly food poisoning.
“That was a turning point of the game,” Eggers said. “University is also a good football team and they capitalized on our mistakes. Eventually, they wore us down in the fourth quarter.”
Now, the Seahawks will face a big Timberwolves team, both in size and in numbers. This is Northwood’s first game out of Irvine, as it opened with a loss to University and rebounded last week with a victory over Beckman.
Brethren Christian (1-1) vs. Saddleback Valley Christian (2-1) at JSerra High, 7 p.m.: Brethren Christian faces a big test in Saddleback Valley Christian, ranked No. 9 in the CIF Southern Section Northeast Division poll.
Saddleback Valley Christian went 10-1 a year ago, upset in the opening round of the CIF Southern Section Northeast Division playoffs after an undefeated regular season.
Brethren Christian, meanwhile, is coming off a 47-21 loss to Calvary Chapel, despite 158 rushing yards from Ryan Randall. Randall has now rushed for 315 yards in just two games.
Week 2 Top Performers
Passing
Matt Viles, Edison — 485* yards, 3 TDs.
Rushing
Kyle Middlebrooks, Fountain Valley — 166 yards, 2 TDs.
Receiving
Jeff Trojan, Edison — 201 yards, 1 TD.
* school record
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