High School Football: Chargers crowned champions, state playoffs up next

"I thought we did a good job of adjusting in the second half," White said. "We made too many mistakes in the first half and couldn't get anything going. We had penalties, we dropped balls. I thought we did a much better job of taking care of the game in the second half.

"Alek [Torgersen] can run the ball and we lived on his legs in the second half. Our offensive line did a great job and our defense was amazing. We didn't give [the Spartans] much."

Edison took further control by taking the second half kickoff in for its next score. Senior running back/linebacker Elijah Herrera returned the second half kickoff 42 yards out to the Edison 45. Torgersen had two big gains on keepers to keep the drive alive including one on a fourth-down play. He later hit a wide open Markus Boyer at the 15, and the senior tight end went untouched to the end zone to complete a 20-yard scoring play. Kelley's kick put the Chargers on top, 19-7.

Villa Park was pinned inside its own 10 late in the third quarter when Osborne dropped back to pass but was pressured. He eluded the oncoming rush of Baljeu but was met moments later by Aschoff and defensive end Garrett Garcia who smothered Osborne in the end zone for a safety with 3:46 left in the quarter.

Torgersen bulled his way into the end zone from 26 yards out with 8:01 left in the game to make it 28-10, and Edison was on its way to beating Villa Park for the second time this year. The Chargers scored a 27-7 nonleague victory over the Spartans on Sept. 6.

"It took us a lot of hard work to reach this moment," said Herrera, a senior and three-year starter who played both at running back and linebacker. "A lot of us have played together since youth football and to go out like this, is just amazing."

Moments later, Herrera soaked up one last, tangible piece of the magical night when he slid, head first, toward the south end zone, where his slide came to a rest at the six yard line. He then hugged a few teammates, and the group entered the visitor's dugout, and then headed toward what was certain to be a raucous Edison locker room.

It's been a month of milestones for White. Earlier this month, Edison won an outright Sunset League championship for the second straight year and has won or shared six of the last seven league titles. Two weeks ago, White, a quarterback in the 1970s at Edison and the school's Male Athlete of the Year in 1974, registered his 200th career victory at his alma mater when the Chargers routed Valencia of Placentia, 52-14, in the quarterfinals.

Friday's triumph gave him victory No. 202, and placed him in the company of Bill Vail (1970), and Bill Workman (179, '80, '85), as the three coaches to guide the program to a Southern Section title.

After finishing runner-up to the title in each of three previous attempts, White said earlier in the week that he hoped the fourth trip to a Section final, would be the charm.

It turned out to be.

"This means so much to me, and to this team, but I'm really happy for Coach White," Aschoff said. "He's done so much for us and for this program, and it's just so great to see him get a title."

At 13 wins, Edison is one victory shy of matching the school record for victories in a season. That mark belongs to the 1980 CIF-SS Big 5 championship team that went 14-0. A win Saturday would send the Chargers on to the Home Depot Center, and give them a chance to set the all-time school record at 15 wins.

"There's still a lot to play for," White said.

Serra won its third section title in four years when it defeated Chaminade, 30-28, Friday. The Cavaliers rushed for 304 yards in the win in an attack spearheaded by junior quarterback Jalen Greene (114 yards) and sophomore running back Malik Roberson (104 yards).

Roberson has rushed for 100 or more yards in three of four of playoff games. He had 197 in a semifinal win over No. 1 Lompoc two weeks ago, and ran for 237 in a Nov. 16 quarterfinal win over Santa Monica.

"They are a very fast and athletic team," White said of the Cavaliers. "We haven't seen a team like this all year, and that presents a big challenge to our team. Their No. 21 (junior Adoree' Jackson) does a little bit of everything for them, and is just phenomenal."

Serra comes into Saturday's game on an eight-game win streak. In their second game of the regular season, the Cavaliers knocked off a Long Beach Poly team (20-12) that last Saturday defeated Mater Dei to win the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division championship.

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Edison (13-1)