Edison Muscles Passed Corona del Mar in Physical Matchup (2021)

Huntington Beach – ‘Cap’ Sheue Field

Reminiscent of a five-overtime bout between the Chargers and the Sea Kings last season, both teams’ high-powered offenses were on display on Friday night.

Edison High School was the victor this time around, defeating Sunset League rival Corona del Mar 28-20 at Cap Sheue Field inside Huntington Beach High School.

Sea Kings junior quarterback David Rasor led his team downfield on the first drive of the game, but was forced to settle for a field goal. CdM running back and kicker Colin Pene nailed the 26-yard FG, and Dan O’Shea’s team took an early 3-0 lead.

Edison junior QB Parker Awad responded right away with five consecutive pass plays for 65 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown to his wide receiver Nico Brown in the back end of the endzone.

The Chargers’ first score would be one of the four lead changes of the night, indicative of the fight in these two football programs.

“It’s always a battle with [Corona del Mar], they’re well coached, exactly like us,” Edison senior HB and defensive back Troy Fletcher said. “We came out on top this time, but they’re a tough team for sure.”

CdM’s Rasor opted right for a counter-punch, capping off a nine play drive with his own 4-yard QB keeper for a TD. The score put the Sea Kings up 10-7, but the CdM offense would not touch the ball with a lead from that point on.

In the last minute of the first quarter, Awad made quick work of the three-point deficit, throwing for passes of five, 10, and 23 yards before connecting with junior WR Ashton Hurley for a 22-yard score.

The entire game, CdM’s receivers had trouble finding separation from Edison defensive backs including Fletcher, who had a pass deflection in the second quarter.

The Chargers also exploited holes in the Sea Kings defense, getting several dump-off and second-option passes completed for big gains. The flat was a cash cow for Edison, as wide open passes to the outside turned into huge momentum-shifting plays for the Chargers offense.

With 12 seconds left in the half, Awad threw a high-point pass to WR Tucker Tripp in the end zone, and the junior hung on for a 3-yard TD.

Heading into the tunnel, the Chargers led the Sea Kings 21-10.

CdM was put in a position to stage a comeback in the third quarter thanks to drive-stalling sacks by DB Jake Simkins and linebacker Nathan Bloom, as well as a third-down pass deflection by LB Mason Kubichek, but the Edison defense kept the lead at 11 by only allowing three completions on eight attempts from Rasor in the third quarter.

After a clutch fourth quarter interception by CdM senior safety Tyler Brown, Dan O’Shea settled for another FG — this time 23-yards — on the subsequent drive when faced with a fourth-and-3 on the Edison six-yard line. Although the lead was cut to eight, the Sea Kings’ defense had to prevent any scoring to give the offense a chance at tying the game up.

Edison’s senior RB Troy Fletcher would put a wrench in that idealism right away.

Taking the handoff from Awad, Fletcher darted up the middle, virtually untouched, and swifty put the Chargers up 28-13 with a 55-yard Chargers TD.

“All credit goes to my o-line,” Fletcher said. “They opened up a huge hole, and all I had to do was run.”

Along with his curtain-call rush, Fletcher had 108 receiving yards on four receptions— which amounts to an absurd 27-yards per catch.

Despite a two-minute drill touchdown from Rasor to junior RB Owen Sanders that cut the lead to eight, Edison would put the game to bed by recovering the CdM onside kick attempt and taking a knee to let the clock run out.

Edison senior defensive end Austin Grbic was the standout player of the fourth quarter, with three sacks and a solo tackle in the final frame alone.

CdM (6-2, 1-2) will play at Newport Harbor (3-5, 2-1) next Friday for the “Battle of the Bay” at 7 p.m.

Edison (6-1, 2-1) heads to Orange Coast College to play rival Fountain Valley (1-7, 0-3) on Friday Oct. 22 at 7 p.m