Perfect Sunset League title for White

In his final Sunset League game as Edison High’s football coach, Coach Dave White walked to midfield with his wife, Lytie, for the coin flip. He let Lytie toss the coin.

The Chargers won, and they deferred, electing to kick off to Huntington Beach. It was just a matter of time before Edison would give White his eighth unbeaten league championship.

It was an emotional Friday night for White, who is retiring after 31 years. He didn’t have to sweat out his last league contest, as host Edison blew out the Oilers, 42-6, at Cap Sheue Field.

White and the Chargers celebrated a second straight 5-0 season in league. Afterward, close to 80 of White’s former players joined in on the fun.

Those former players surprised White on the field. They came in letterman jackets to congratulate their old coach. White has enjoyed a lot of success in the Sunset League, winning it 13 times, because of many of those players.

“Thank you guys for coming,” said White, while hugging every player, and each one responded with an emphatic “Thank you!”

White couldn’t have asked for a better way to end the regular season. He was happy that the alumni came to support the current Chargers.

“Pretty special,” White said as the young and old Chargers lined up in the end zone for a team photo.

White believes he has another special team. The Chargers improved to 9-1, and with the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs starting next week, the Chargers will learn of their first-round opponent on Sunday, when the section releases the playoff pairings.

Edison, ranked No. 2 in the poll, expects to receive one of the top two seeds. La Mirada (8-2) went into Friday as the top team, and it should earn the No. 1 seed after routing Lakewood Mayfair, 63-13.

La Mirada and Edison share one common opponent, Mater Dei.

“I think we both lost by six touchdowns” to Mater Dei, White joked earlier in the week. “We both got spanked.

“I think there [are] like eight teams that can win it, and we’re one of them.”

White looks to guide Edison to the section finals for the fifth time under his watch. The Chargers have won a section crown once with White in charge, in the Southwest Division four years ago.

They have the offense to put up numbers in a hurry, as the Chargers have averaged 50 points per game in the past three games. Griffin O’Connor has been a big reason why.

O’Connor continued to rip apart defenses with his arm. The junior quarterback completed 15 of 24 passes for 256 yards and four touchdowns.

O’Connor continues to spread the ball around to his wide receivers. He hit EJ Ginnis for a nine-yard touchdown, Shaun Colamonico for a 13-yard touchdown and Chad Fisser for a 23-yard touchdown in the first half.

O’Connor actually played in the second half, after exiting the last two games at halftime because Edison was leading big.

O’Connor fell one touchdown short of reaching five touchdowns through the air for the third straight time. On the opening drive of the second half, O’Connor found David Atencio on a 14-yard slant resulting in a touchdown.

Eight-eight seconds into the third quarter O’Connor’s night was over, as was Huntington Beach’s season. The Oilers (4-6, 2-3 in league) finished fourth in league, failing to qualify for the CIF Southern Section Division 7 playoffs.

Huntington Beach couldn’t slow down O’Connor, who has thrown for 26 touchdowns, with only three interceptions. With running back Jack Carmichael, who rushed three times for 81 yards and a touchdown, making his return from a shoulder injury, it will be harder for defenses to focus on O’Connor.

The last Edison junior quarterback to put up the kind of stats O’Connor has up to this point was in attendance for White’s last league game. Nick Crissman, who went on to throw for an Edison single-season record 3,094 yards in 2006, might have to come back to see if O’Connor can break his mark. Through 10 games, O’Connor has thrown for 2,283 yards.

At O’Connor’s pace, he’s averaging 228.3 passing yards per game, it would take him four contests to surpass Crissman. If he gets to play four more games, that means Edison would have reached the section finals.

Playing for a section crown would be the perfect way for White to cap his great coaching career with the Chargers.

Sunset League

Edison 42, Huntington Beach 6

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Huntington 0 – 0 – 0 – 6 — 6

Edison 14 – 21 – 7 – 0 — 42

FIRST QUARTER

E – Ginnis 9 pass from O’Connor (Morrell kick), 6:55.

E – Colamonico 13 pass from O’Connor (Morrell kick), 4:06.

SECOND QUARTER

E – Fisser 23 pass from O’Connor (Morrell kick), 11:46.

E – Blake 46 INT return (Morrell kick), 6:35.

E – J. Carmichael 75 run (Morrell kick), 3:10.

THIRD QUARTER

E – Atencio 14 pass from O’Connor (Morrell kick), 10:32.

FOURTH QUARTER

HB – Moore 5 fumble return (pass failed), 10:31.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

HB – McLawyer, 13-34.

E – J. Carmichael, 3-81, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

HB – McLawyer, 6-13-2, 38.

E – O’Connor, 15-24-0, 256, 4 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

HB – Marlow, 1-14.

E – Colamonico, 3-55, 1 TD.