Showdown [In] The Sunset

Rahshaun Haylock

LONG BEACH (CBS) - You play in The Bell Game, your annual rivalry against Fountain Valley, and then have to come back on short week against the league favorite with the league title on the line.  Did I mention it's a short week?  If you're Edison, these are the cards that you are dealt.  This, simply put, is is your early November reality.

Week 10 Podcast:

Its been a topsy-turvy, roller-coaster type of year for Coach Dave White's Edison Chargers.  It began with the news that he would be without the services of his best player --on both sides of the ball-- Davion Orphey for the entire season because he's academically ineligible. 
 
"Its always tough when you lose your best player," says White, who's in his 25th season as the Edison head coach.  "I just told our guys its no different than having a player get hurt at the beginning of the season."
 
One player on the mythical injured list was bad enough, but having two was a situation that had White up in arms.
 
A week before the season began, he received news his starting quarterback, Chase Favreau, was ruled ineligible by CIF.  Favreau transferred to the Huntington Beach campus from Mater Dei last spring.  The junior signal caller spent all of the spring and summer running the offense, only to be denied eligibility days before the start of the season.  
 
A ruling, White expressed his extreme displeasure with as he was one of many "angry" people at Edison.  
 
Edison won the appeal and Favreau was able to start the second game of the season.  Its been one hill to climb after another for the Chargers. 
 
The last proverbial hill to climb for the Edison is a red, white, and blue one and dons that reads "LOS AL" across the chest.  This hill comes equipped with tradition that few in Southern California high school football can match.    The king of this hill has won 15 league championships and 4 CIF Titles.  This ruler just also happens to be the all-time winningest head coach in Orange County. 
 
Coach John Barnes has been Los Alamitos high school football for the last 31 seasons.  One of Barnes' top assistants, Jim Van Gorder, has been with him the entire time.  Another, Barry Scher, is in his 28th season.  Five of the assistants have been on the Griffins staff at least 11 years.  Jerry Rodriguez is another coach that has over 20 years of service.  This is his 25th season.  Los Alamitos reeks of consistency.  So much so, according to Barnes, their uniforms have looked the same for the last 30 years.
 
"[I'm] proudest of being consistent," says Barnes who's teams have only missed the playoffs once in the last 25 years.  That was back in 2007, a year the Griffins finished tied for third in the Sunset League and had a 7-3 overall record. 
 
"It's amazing and difficult, I tell our kids all the time its hard to win.  Losing is easy [but] winning is difficult," says the coach. 
 
Barnes believes this game is more than just about winning a league title.  He believes the playoffs are about finishing first in your league.  If you finish first in the league you'll have a higher seed and a more favorable draw.  He's hoping that will help the Griffins end their string of first round exits dating back to 2005. 
 
Of course, in the PAC-5, there are no easy draws and before we can get there, tonight we must determine who can rise in the Sunset. 

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