Poly downs Edison, 42-28

Mike Sciacca

It was a near perfect night for the boys from Huntington Beach

Saturday at Edison International Field.

Although the calendar read December, the temperature stood at

70-degrees at kickoff time for the CIF Southern Section Division I

football championship game between Edison High School and Long Beach Poly

High School.

The stage was set for Edison, which had a clear vision and brought it

all against defending champion Poly, the top-seed and the Chargers seemed

undaunted by the task that stood before them. They stuck to what had

brought them to their first championship game appearance in 16 years, but

believed enough in themselves to add a few more wrinkles to their game

plan. They gambled on several occasions and tried trick plays. They had

success through nearly three quarters of play and the thought that maybe,

just maybe, this perfect night would be the culmination of a season that

could not end more perfectly.

But it wasn’t to be.

Poly downed Edison, 42-28.

Trailing 21-14, the Jackrabbits displayed big-game experience and went

on a 21-0 tear over a stretch of the third and fourth quarters to take

command in front of an crowd of more than 13,000 spectators.

When it was all over, some Edison players cried, others walked

silently off the field. None, however, hung their heads.

“We have a lot to be proud of,” said Edison coach Dave White after

being presented the runner-up trophy and hoisting it skyward for the

Charger faithful in attendance to see. “We gave it our all and got beat

by a very good football team. Poly is the best team that we’ve faced all

season -- by far.”

Although Poly was expected by many to come out on top Saturday -- even

by some Edison followers -- that didn’t discourage the fans from coming

out to cheer their Chargers on.

Some of those fans got there early enough to tailgate, others filtered

in just minutes before kickoff. A group of Edison students could be heard

chanting in the distance, “E-E-Edi . . .,” as they entered the stadium.

“I came out to show my support. I know a few of the sophomores on the

team and I’ll be screaming my head off for our guys,” said Edison

sophomore Henry Grumet.

Junior Peter Kulka, who plays soccer for the Chargers, also came out

to see if Edison could find a way to derail the Jackrabbits.

“It would be a huge win for our school if we beat Poly. The team’s

going to need all the support from us they can get. I think they can do

it,” said Kulka, whose buddy, junior Jacob Monson had this simple message

for the Chargers just before kickoff: “good luck.”

Edison had luck. That, plus talent and determination, gave the

Chargers a 7-0 lead and a 14-14 tie at halftime.

Students were surprised and encouraged by the halftime score.

“I thought Poly would be on top by now, but this is great,” said Jake

Zylstra, a sophomore. “It’s exciting to see my friend, Matt White, get in

there for a few plays. I hope they keep it up and can pull this game

out.”

Jake had two other friends in tow, sophomores Tristan Anderson and

Matthew Fisher, as he walked the outskirts of the stadium at the half.

“I think we have a great chance in the second half, but our defense

has to keep playing at the pace they have been in the first half,” he

said.

The students had plenty to cheer about when Denny Flanagan took in a

one-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Grady on a fourth down play to give

Edison a 21-14 lead with 9:39 to play in the third quarter.

But that’s when Poly took command.

The 21 consecutive points gave the Jackrabbits a 34-21 lead with 5:28 remaining in the game. Yet Edison did not fold. No, not even when a trick

play on the ensuing kickoff failed and pinned the Chargers on their own

six-yard line down 13 points. Ninety-four yards from pay dirt, each tick

on the game clock, precious.

“That drive was really impressive, wasn’t it,” White asked. “Poly just

took a commanding lead and had us right where they wanted us, but our

guys really showed a lot of heart with a really nice drive.”

Indicative of the fight they had in them, the Chargers covered the 94

yards in just 48 seconds, the four-play drive culminated in a 22-yard

scoring pass from Grady to Flanagan and suddenly, Edison was within six,

34-28, with 4:40 left on the clock.

The Chargers even got the ball back with 3:57 remaining when A.J.

Martinez came up with a huge fumble recovery at the Edison 25-yard line.

But an eight-yard pass completion was followed by two dropped passes --

including a long bomb at the Poly 20-yard line. That set up another

fourth down gamble, but Grady’s mad scramble for the first down yardstick

just fell short.

He was stopped in front of the Poly bench, which sent off a wild

celebration among the Jackrabbit players crowding the sideline.

White managed a big smile as he summed up Edison’s 11-1-1 season,

before heading to the locker room to join his coaches and players.

“We lost just one game all season long and that was to a great Poly

team,” White said. “We made it to the CIF championship game and hung

right in there. Although we wanted to leave here with a win, we’re still

leaving with a lot of positive things on this night.”

* MIKE SCIACCA is the education and sports reporter. He can be reached

at (714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at [email protected].