Edison flexes its muscles for Newport Harbor

NEWPORT BEACH - Cedric Whitaker gave the Newport Harbor faithful an early reason to believe the Sailors could deliver an upset of an undefeated opponent for the second consecutive week, but the feeling was short-lived.

It didn't take long for Newport Harbor to discover why Edison is the county's No. 1 team. The top-ranked Chargers had too many answers for the No. 10 Sailors in their 34-6 victory in Sunset League football Friday night at Newport Harbor High.

Edison remained unscathed at 7-0, 2-0 in league. The Sailors, who defeated previously unbeaten Los Alamitos last week, fell to 4-3 and 1-1.

"Other than the one play, the defense played great," Chargers coach Dave White said. "The offense was hot and cold tonight. I'm a perfectionist though. We did do a lot of good things, obviously."

Whitaker broke free for 65 yards and the touchdown that included three jukes along the way. Newport Harbor led, 6-0, less than two minutes into the contest after the point-after was missed.

However, Edison limited Whitaker to 31 yards on his next 10 carries. He finished with 96 yards on 12 runs.

"There were some mistakes on our part," Edison's Davion Orphey said. "As the game went on, we were able to take him down."

It also was clear as the game went on that the Sailors had no scheme for stopping Orphey on offense. He had a team-high 109 receiving yards on six catches, including a long of 45 yards.

Quarterback Matt Viles finished 26 of 42 for 352 yards and accounted for four touchdowns. Viles passed for scores of 44, 6 and 10 yards and also punched it in on a 1-yard keeper. He was picked off once by J.B. Salem on Edison's opening drive.

Viles 44-yard connection with Michael Rivera gave Edison the lead 7-6 with 3:41 to play in the opening quarter.

Viles' scoring run on the first play of the second quarter put the Chargers in front, 14-6. Edison led, 24-6, at halftime.

"We come out and play as hard as we can," Orphey said. "We don't worry about our ranking."

After Newport Harbor beat Los Alamitos, 23-20, last week, the Chargers wanted no part of being the second team to be handed its first loss by the Sailors. White said Newport Harbor's victory last week probably "got his players' attention."

"We try to treat each game about us," White said. "It may have helped."

Edison has no room to lose focus. The Chargers have upcoming games with Los Alamitos and Fountain Valley. White said he anticipates those being the hardest league games for his team and that the Chargers need to "correct some things" before meeting the Griffins on Friday.

Newport Harbor faces Fountain Valley next.

"Los Al is a good team, but so are we," Orphey said. "We need to work hard and stay focused."