Turnovers hurt Edison football in loss to San Clemente
An electric play helped the Edison High football team jump ahead early on the scoreboard Friday night against San Clemente.
Junior quarterback Save Niumata found senior receiver Mason York down the left sideline on an 80-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter.
But though the Chargers struck first, the Tritons struck last. And often.
San Clemente pulled away late, earning a 31-7 win at Cap Sheue Field and spoiling Edison’s home opener.
San Clemente stayed undefeated at 5-0, while Edison dropped to 1-3.
“They’re a really good football team,” Edison coach Jeff Grady said. “Obviously, they have five wins and no losses for a reason. When you play good football teams you have to be on your game. You have to be really good, too, and we were just off. We had a couple of miscommunications, and that falls on me. We’ve got to get it fixed before next week.”
Edison athletic director Rich Boyce announced Saturday that the Chargers had found a Week 5 opponent. Edison will play Santa Clara Wilcox on Friday night at Bakersfield Junior College.
The Chargers had beaten San Clemente the last two years, including in a thrilling road victory last season that at the time helped the Chargers improve to 5-0. Friday’s game seemed to be headed to another close finish.
Edison had the ball inside the Triton 40-yard line, down 10-7, late in the third quarter. But a run resulted in a fumble, forced by San Clemente’s Ben Baker. Safety Matai Tagoa’i scooped up the ball and returned it all the way to the Edison 18, and a personal foul against the home team brought it even closer, to the nine-yard line.
The very next play, San Clemente running back Aiden Rubin scored up the middle, giving San Clemente a 17-7 lead headed into the fourth quarter.
“We were driving,” Grady said. “Yeah, it hurt.”
After an Edison punt, Rubin scored from 45 yards out. The ensuing Chargers possession ended quickly, as San Clemente defensive back Riley Kelley intercepted his second ball of the game to give his team the ball at the Chargers 11-yard line.
Kelley, a junior, already has five interceptions this season.
“He got beat on the long touchdown and we said, ‘Hey, we’re going to come back to you, be ready to step up,’” San Clemente coach Jaime Ortiz said. “As a defensive back, you’ve got to have a short memory, and he made some big plays for us.”
San Clemente scored its final touchdown as junior receiver Cole Herlean beat double coverage, catching a 14-yard score from Villanova-bound senior quarterback Dylan Mills.
Kelley said it felt great to beat Edison after losing to the Chargers the last two years.
“Both our offense and our defense are playing really well,” he said. “We’ve had new safeties and cornerbacks coming in, and linebackers too. We were senior-heavy last year, but we’ve all stepped up and played great. It’s great to be 5-0.”
Junior running back Julius Gillick ran hard for Edison, amassing 100 yards on 19 carries. On defense, senior tackle Noah Thompson was a constant presence, as was senior middle linebacker Hoi Hansen.
York also had a key quarterback sack to thwart San Clemente’s first drive.
“I thought we played stingy defense,” Grady said. “There’s always things to clean up, but I thought we played hard. We just didn’t execute well enough to beat a good team like that, but again, that falls on me being the head coach.”
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Nonleague
San Clemente 31, Edison 7
SCORE BY QUARTERS
San Clemente 0 - 7 - 10 - 14 — 31
Edison 7 - 0 - 0 - 0 — 7
FIRST QUARTER
E — York 80 pass from Niumata (Bammer kick), 3:22.
SECOND QUARTER
SC — Fuimaono 2 run (kick good), 4:28.
THIRD QUARTER
SC — Gonzales 25 FG, 3:23.
SC — Rubin 9 run (kick good), 1:09.
FOURTH QUARTER
SC — Rubin 45 run (kick good), 6:05.
SC — Herlean 14 pass from Mills (kick good), 3:38.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
SC — Rubin, 21-154, 2 TDs.
E — Gillick, 19-100.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
SC — Mills, 15-22-0, 138, 1 TD.
E — Niumata, 7-20-2, 137, 1 TD.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
SC — Herlean, 7-75, 1 TD.
E — York, 4-112, 1 TD.
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