COSTA MESA – Dave White‘s final “Battle for the Bell” went awful well, like most of them have, at least this century, with Edison toppling archrival Fountain Valley. This one was just more pronounced.
Griffin O’Connor on Friday night completed 22 of 25 passes for 397 yards and five touchdowns, all before halftime, and the Chargers gave their legendary coach his 12th consecutive victory in the series, romping to a 56-12 Sunset League triumph at Orange Coast College.
Edison (8-1 overall, 4-0 Sunset) clinched a share of the league title, scoring on six of its first eight possessions – drives that totaled 318 yards in 17 plays covering just 4:40 of clock – to put the game away in the first quarter against the rebuilding Barons (1-8, 0-4).
It gave Edison a 32-14-1 edge in the series, 20-10 since White took charge in 1986. It was the most one-sided of his victories over Fountain Valley.
“(That this is the last ‘Battle of the Bell’ for me) means a lot,” said White, 60, a former Edison star who is 323-118-3 in 31 seasons as Chargers coach. “I told the kids today that I went to the first game in 1969. I was an eighth-grader, and Edison was a first-year school with no seniors, and they upset Fountain Valley. …
“Forty-two years as a player, as a coach, so it means a lot. I’m going to miss the heck out of nights like this, but it’s got to come to an end sometime. It’s a little bittersweet.”
O’Connor made this one simple, completing nine successive throws after his first two attempts fell incomplete, then hitting on eight straight as the Chargers amassed 430 yards in the first half en route to 570 for the game. He connected twice with Shawn Colamonico, who totaled 100 yards on five receptions, and with David Atencio, McCade Barrett and E.J. Ginnis for touchdowns..
Mateo Gallego intercepted two passes, returning one 33 yards to the Barons’ 2, to set up O’Connor’s 1-yard TD plunge for a 21-0 lead, and the other 25 yards for a touchdown. Nick Nguyen had a touchdown run for Edison.
Andrew Ross completed 17 of 38 for 118 yards and second-quarter touchdown passes of 23 yards to Angel Hernandez and 34 to Brandon Krause.
Ennis caught five balls for 99 yards, Atencio had eight catches for 96, Barrett had four for 75, and Chad Fisser four for 60.
