Edison bounces back, throttles San Clemente

SAN CLEMENTE – Arguably one of the most difficult nonleague schedules for a team in Orange County ended with a loud statement Friday night.

No. 5 Edison rode some timely playmaking and its dominant defense to a 31-3 nonleague victory against No. 15 San Clemente at San Clemente High.

"We were ready to play," Chargers coach Dave White said. "We lost to a really good Mater Dei team last week, so we wanted to do the best we could tonight and make some improvements for league."

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The complexion of the game changed late in the first quarter. With both defenses digging in at the start, Aleksander Torgersen completed a pass to Trevor Borkowski, who broke two tackles and ran 65 yards to give Edison (4-1) a 7-0 lead with 1:59 left in the opening quarter.

The Chargers continued their dominance with two more touchdowns in the second quarter. The first came on 3-yard Torgersen touchdown run and the second came from a 51-yard fumble return from Elijah Herrera. Edison held a 21-3 lead at half and never looked back.

"For me, personally, it was two big plays," Tritons head coach Jaime Ortiz said about the first half. "Take away those two big plays, and it's a close ball game."

Edison's passing game, which has been improving from week to week, took another step forward against San Clemente (4-2). Torgersen passed for 235 yards, 227 in the first half.

Torgersen received help from his running game in the second half, as Marquis Ross carried the ball 14 times for 128 yards. One of those carries was a 33-yard touchdown run to put the Chargers up 28-3 midway through the third.

The dominant Edison defense sacked Loren Applegate four times, including 2 1/2 by Trenton Aschoff.

Aschoff said now that the nonleague portion of the Chargers' schedule is completed, it will begin to pay dividends.

"It was a tough schedule," Aschoff said. "It's going to get us ready for league and definitely prepared us for CIF."