No. 1 Edison steals the show, keeps the bell

FULLERTON — Edison continued its domination of Fountain Valley in the latest installment of "The Battle for the Bell" rivalry, beating the Barons, 24-0, in a Sunset League showdown of unbeatens Friday night in front of 10,000 at Cal State Fullerton.

The Chargers (9-0, 4-0) came in as the top-ranked team in the county and the Barons (8-1, 3-1) were ranked No. 4, but it was Edison notching its fifth consecutive victory over Fountain Valley.

"Our kids are a pretty special group this year," Edison coach Dave White said before being hoisted onto the shoulders of his players and carried off to pick up the bell in the north end zone.

"The seniors have been winners ever since they got here. They've won at every level. I'm just really proud of them. They are great kids. They deserve this."

Edison held Fountain Valley to eight first downs and 107 yards of total offense. The defense recorded four sacks and got one interception.

The Chargers limited Fountain Valley's star running back Kyle Middlebrooks to 83 yards on 17 carries, and he never got a whiff of the end zone.

Edison also did a number on Barons quarterback Dominic Ragland, who finished 6 of 14 for 24 yards and one interception. His longest pass went for 7 yards. Ragland is usually a good scrambler, but he finished with 10 yards on 16 carries.

Edison clinched at least a share of the Sunset League crown and can take the title outright by beating Marina, which is winless in league, in next week's regular-season finale.

The last time Edison went undefeated in league was in 1990.

"It's awesome. We have a good senior group," Edison quarterback Matt Viles said. "They (the Barons) are a great team. We're so happy to win it."

Edison drove down the field on the opening drive of the game before stalling at Fountain Valley's 23. Markus Trujillo missed on a 40-yard field goal attempt.

Trujillo made up for that miss by connecting on field goals of 47 and 38 yards in the first half and adding a 29-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

Junior running back Davion Orphey finished with 124 yards on 12 carries to lead the Chargers rushing attack. Orphey scored on a 2-yard run in the second quarter and added a 3-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Viles was 10-of-19 passing for 148 yards to keep the Chargers drives moving. He had no touchdowns and no interceptions. Viles left the game with 12 seconds left in the third quarter after taking a hard hit.

Fountain Valley still has some important business to take care of next Friday when it closes out the regular season against Los Alamitos.

The Barons could end up in a three-way tie for second with Los Al and Newport Harbor, coin flips deciding which teams get in. So the Barons have to win to clinch a playoff berth.