HUNTINGTON BEACH – It didn’t take long for Edison’s A.J. Beynon to make an impression Friday night.
After intercepting a pass in the end zone in the first quarter, Beynon snagged the first of his two first-half scoring catches from Grant Lowary on the ensuing drive, helping the Chargers roll past the Sailors, 48-7.
Edison (6-2, 3-0) received the kickoff to open the game and never looked back. Tailback Jacob Marines scored from 8-yards out at the tail end of an easy drive to give Edison a 7-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.
Not phased, Newport Harbor (3-5, 1-2) drove down the field by way of a 50-yard strike from Cole Norris to Brett Beaudette.
That’s when Beynon made his first bit of noise.
The senior got his hands around a Norris pass in the end zone and took the wind out of Newport Harbor’s sails.
“All season, our defensive coach has been saying how we haven’t had many interceptions as a defensive back group,” Beynon said. “He just kind of challenged us to go out there and see if we could get some interceptions.”
Starting in place of injured quarterback Matt Gane, Lowary pump-faked and found Beynon down the sideline a few plays later for a 56-yard score. Beynon would find pay dirt again with just 14 seconds remaining in the half on a 35-yard connection with Lowary to make it 27-0 at intermission.
Things didn’t get much better in the second half for the Sailors.
Norris was hurried all night and was never able to find a rhythm. The Northern Arizona-commit threw for just 150 yards and was sacked five times.
“We practiced hard this week, had a good week of practice,” Edison coach Dave White said with a smile. “Our defense played really well.”
The Sailors got on the board late in the third quarter when Norris found Keaton Cablay from 6-yards out. But at that point it was too little, too late.
The Chargers face Fountain Valley next week before a huge Sunset League showdown with Los Alamitos on Nov. 6 at Veterans Stadium.
“We got better this week … and that was important for us,” White said. “I thought we did a lot of good things.”
Contact the writer: mkatz@ocregister.com
