SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – There are very few football programs and very few coaches who could be unsatisfied after remaining undefeated after beating another undefeated, ranked team on the road.
Edison is one of those programs, and Dave White is one of those coaches.
Fifth-ranked Edison took control in the second quarter, but penalties and a tipped-pass touchdown aided a late San Juan Hills comeback attempt before the Chargers held on for a 24-17 nonleague victory at San Juan Hills on Friday.
“We have to get a whole lot better,” White said. “So many stupid penalties. It’s all we talked about. Maybe we’re just going to be stupid all year.”
Where Edison (4-0) looked smart was on defense, especially on the ground.
The Chargers held No. 15 San Juan Hills (3-1) to minus-17 yards rushing in the first half and only 40 for the game.
Edison’s defense held strong through the second half until a deep Matt Rodriguez pass was tipped by two Chargers defensive backs and grabbed by Brady Bjorkman for a 59-yard touchdown pass and a 24-17 deficit with just more than 4 minutes remaining.
“Defense was pretty solid,” White said. “That’s a freak play right there. Other than that, they hit us on a trick play, flea-flicker. They scored when two of our guys hit each other and tip it. That was the two touchdowns.”
Edison’s offense stalled with penalties, and a pass interference call set San Juan Hills up for a final drive.
San Juan Hills got to the Edison 9-yard line with 5 seconds remaining, but a pass fell incomplete in the end zone to allow Edison to walk out with a win.
“We had a lot of different things that went our way,” San Juan Hills coach Aaron Flowers said. “We just didn’t play good enough football to win a game like this.”
The turnover battle went San Juan Hills’ way and allowed the Stallions to take an early lead.
After Brock Cazel made an interception, San Juan Hills’ first touchdown came on a 45-yard reverse flea-flicker pass from Rodriguez to Jacob Huff for a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.
Jack Carmichael walked in the touchdown on the next drive to tie the score, but another interception led to a San Juan Hills field goal and 10-7 lead.
Griffin O’Connor found EJ Ginnis on a 24-yard TD pass for a 14-10 lead in the second quarter and hit McCade Barrett on an 18-yard TD pass in the third.
