Game of the Week : Angelovic Leads Edison Over Banning, 27-11

Mike Angelovic passed for 219 yards and two touchdowns to his favorite receiver, Rick Justice, as Huntington Beach Edison, upset earlier by Orange El Modena in its season opener, showed Friday night that it will be a force to be reckoned with in the Big Five Conference, after all.

Edison dominated L.A. Banning in almost every phase of the game en route to a 27-11 victory before a crowd of 3,000 at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.

The Chargers (2-1) played well throughout the game while giving Coach Bill Workman his 100th career victory and breaking a three-game losing streak to last season’s City 4-A runner-ups.

“It was very frustrating,” Workman said afterward. “We’re not used to being down 3-0 to anybody. It was a bit tough to take.”

Angelovic, who completed 11 of 18 passes, connected with Justice six times, all for big yardage. The first was good for 34 yards and the game’s first score; gains of 13, 35, 23, 12 and 38 yards followed, the last for another touchdown.

Kaleaph Carter, the much heralded 6-foot, 200-pound sophomore, rushed for 62 yards in 19 carries, including a four-yard scoring run with 4:42 to play in the third quarter to make it 20-11. Carter, as a 14-year-old last season, gained 1,942 yards in nine games for the freshman team.

Before Carter’s touchdown, Banning (1-1) had pulled within three, 14-11, when quarterback Ed Kapu hit tight end Keith Roberson with a 12-yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter and Eric Sharp ran it in for a two-point conversion. Kapu, pressured by the Edison defensive line, completed only 6 of 16 passes for 100 yards.

Through the first two quarters, Edison hardly looked like a team that had lost three of its last five games going back to last season, as Carter’s consistent running and Angelovic’s passing kept a young Banning team off balance.

The Chargers, who began the season as The Times’ No. 3 team in the Southern Section before being shut out by Orange El Modena, scored on their first series of the game with what would soon be a common occurence--Angelovic connecting with Justice for a big gain. This one, after Carter did most of the work in the drive on the ground, was a picture-perfect 34-yarder as Angelovic hit Justice in stride down the middle with 8:22 remaining in the first quarter. Eric Thayer added the extra point.

Edison wasted little time in making it 14-0. After Banning punted following two running plays and an incomplete pass, Angelovic kept the ball and went around right end from two yards out with 2:32 left in the first quarter.

The Edison defense took care of the rest of the action in the first half, limiting Banning, No. 2-ranked in the City, to 69 yards in the air. Running back Damon Culver, who had 136 yards in 21 carries in the Pilots’ 13-9 win over Santa Maria last week, was limited to six yards in the first half.

Banning’s Damon Culver lets the ball get away after being tackled by Edison’s Jim Collins, but Culver managed to recover his fumble.