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Edison's Maui opener no problem

WAILUKU, Hawaii — Edison capped off its week on Maui with a handy 43-10 victory over Lahainaluna in its season opener at War Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

First-year starting quarterback Matt Viles led the Chargers (1-0) – the first Orange County team to play this season – completing 14 of 22 passes for 269 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions.

The two-time defending Sunset League co-champions racked up 490 total yards on offense to the Lunas' 96.

''We have some weapons,'' said Edison coach Dave White. ''We have a couple of different running backs, a couple of different quarterbacks, some good receivers.

''It's first game jitters and it's hard to get really focused over here on Maui — we've been playing on the beach all day since Monday, so I'm pretty happy with the win, actually.''

Michael Rivera caught three of Viles' touchdown throws, and finished with four receptions for 97 yards.

Chargers running back Wade Houston ran 14 times for 93 yards and had another five catches for 57 yards, including a 6-yard reception for a touchdown in the third quarter.

Edison's second-string quarterback, Davion Ophey, rushed for 57 yards and a touchdown in addition to completing 4 of 6 passes for 71 yards and a score.

''(Michael Rivera and I have) been playing together since freshman ball, so we've got a connection there,'' said Viles, who took over after two-year starter Nick Crissman (UCLA) graduated last year.

''It felt great. The whole team played good tonight, the offensive line played awesome and I had a fun time out there.''

Senior defensive back Bryson Williams scored the Lunas' only touchdown on an 88-yard fumble return and helped set up a field goal with a 25-yard interception return, both in the second quarter.

''Our defense played well, it was just on the field a little too long,'' said Lahainaluna co-head coach Garret Tijada. ''We cannot have our defense stay out there that long.

''(Edison) was definitely (what we expected).''

Williams also had another four carries for 8 yards, while George Chihara had five carries for 43 yards for the Lunas (0-1), which finished the 2007 season as Hawaii's Division II state runner-up.

Lahainaluna senior quarterback Jake Manning completed 3 of 7 passes for 12 yards and ran for another 11 yards.

''We just wanted to see if we could work on our base plays, make those work, but we were just up against a much better coaching staff, a much better team,'' Tijada said. ''On every play of the game they beat us.''

Edison missed a 52-yard field goal early in the first quarter but got on the board after Viles connected on an inside route with Houston, who took it 66 yards to score.

The Chargers also blocked two Lunas punts, recovering one, and stripped the ball from Manning, forcing a safety early in the fourth quarter.

However, one area they intend to improve on are penalties — the Chargers finished with 11 for 68 yards, primarily due to false starts.

''Obviously our offense really kind of gave Lahainaluna 10 points,'' White said. ''Our defense played great, I thought.

''We had too many penalties, we had those couple of key turnovers that one they scored and the other they got down there and we held to a field goal. Our defense really shut them out but our offense has to shore up some things.''

The Lunas gained a little momentum in the second quarter when defensive back Pau'la Toa intercepted a pass by Viles in the end zone, stopping another Chargers scoring threat. On Edison's next drive, Williams recovered a fumble by Houston on the Lunas' 12 yard line, running it back to make the score 14-10, and then intercepted a pass on the Chargers' next possession.

But Edison scored in the final minute of the half, taking an 11-point cushion into the break.
After a few adjustments, the Chargers cruised through the second half.

''I knew we were going to make some mistakes, but I thought we played pretty well, we played hard,'' White said. ''We came out in the second half and I think did a better job.

''We should have really scored more.''

The victory starts the season off on a positive note and Rivera, a second-year starter, thinks things are headed in the right direction.

''We've been working really hard,'' he said. ''It looked pretty good tonight — we've got a few things to work on, oviously, but I think we're looking good.''

Contact the writer: preps@ocregister.com