Edison beats Oaks Christian to win Air Strike (video)

DANA HILLS - Edison kicked off the summer football season with a stellar run through the Air Strike Passing Tournament on Saturday at Dana Hills High.

Edison, behind the play of quarterback Matt Viles, went 6-0 at the one-day, 16-team event, finishing with a 26-0 victory over Oaks Christian of Westlake Village in the finals.

Edison started the day with a victory in the 7-on-7 format over Westview of San Diego. The Chargers then defeated Mater Dei, Trabuco Hills and Oaks Christian to advance to the semifinals.

The Chargers defeated St. Bonaventure of Ventura in the semifinals before meeting Oaks Christian again in the finals.

"It was a long day," Viles said. "But it was fun to come out here and throw the ball against some great teams."

Oaks Christian quarterback Nick Montana opened the championship game with a deep pass down the middle to Malcolm Jones to the Edison goal line. However, the Lions couldn't score from there.

On the next possession, Viles connected with Jeff Trojan for a touchdown.

Viles threw four touchdowns in the game, spreading the scoring passes to Trojan, Wade Houston and Dylan Lenner.

"Jeff was amazing," Viles said. "Wade (Houston) had a big day on both sides of the ball, as well. …All the receivers played well."

Mike Rivera didn't catch a touchdown pass in the final, but he also played a key role throughout the day.

"Jeff (Trojan) was one of our better receivers last year," Coach Dave White said. "He has experience. Dylan Lenner has really improved a lot. Rivera was a good receiver for us last year and Wade Houston is a very good two-way player. …We have a lot of skill kids back from last year and that helps, especially in tournaments like this."

"We were pretty consistent on both sides of the ball," White said.

The first game against Oaks Christian ended 38-14 for the Chargers.

Edison defeated St. Bonaventure, 20-7 in the semifinals. White said that was the only bad game for the Chargers' offense.

"We just didn't click," he said.

One of the reasons might have been the time off between games. After defeating Oaks Christian to advance to the semifinals, the Chargers had nearly 3½ hours to wait for their next game.

The offense slowed down, but the Edison defense picked up the slack.

Trojan returned an interception for a touchdown to give the Chargers a 13-7 lead against St. Bonaventure.

Later, Viles threw two interceptions, but on each ensuing possession, the Chargers were able to keep St. Bonaventure from scoring.

"We were bending, but not breaking," White said. "In the morning, we played real well (defensively). In the afternoon teams were driving on us, but once we got down inside the red zone, we played real aggressive."

Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com