PREP FOOTBALL : Sunset League : Fountain Valley Holds Off Edison, 28-21

Welcome to the Edison-Fountain Valley rivalry, where the unexpected is the routine, great performances are commonplace and last-second victories are the norm.

When Edison and Fountain Valley high schools got together for the 21st time Friday night, the stadium was full an hour before kickoff and half empty when the game was finally decided.

Many among the overflow crowd of 9,000 that jammed Orange Coast College’s LeBard Stadium had figured the game was over long before Fountain Valley linebacker Mike Walcott tackled Edison reserve quarterback Donnie Smith at the Fountain Valley 10-yard line with 1:22 remaining in the game.

Smith’s heroics helped preserve Fountain Valley’s 28-21 victory that moved the Barons into a first-place tie in the Sunset League with Westminster.

Fountain Valley (5-2, 2-0) appeared to have the victory clinched with 4:31 remaining in the game after tailback Kedric Powe scored his fourth touchdown to make it 28-13. Many fans were filing out of the stadium when Edison quarterback Greg Angelovic engineered a wild comeback.

Angelovic needed a little more than a minute to move Edison 75 yards for a score, capping the quick march with a 16-yard pass to tight end Brian Ryder. Angelovic added a 2-point conversion run that narrowed Fountain Valley’s lead to 28-21.

Then, Edison (6-1, 1-1) got the big break it needed. Powe, who was sensational all evening, fumbled on Fountain Valley’s first play following the kickoff, and Edison lineman Miles Charlier recovered at Edison’s 41.

Angelovic swiftly moved Edison downfield by mixing up some accurate passing with some nifty runs. The Chargers had a first down at Fountain Valley’s 20.

Edison’s comeback bid appeared complete 2 plays later, but wide receiver Art Baird dropped a pass all alone in the end zone with 1:36 remaining. Angelovic was then injured running for 7 yards on the next play, and Fountain Valley ended Edison’s threat when Walcott stopped Smith short of a first down.

Edison Coach Dave White downplayed Baird’s dropped pass in the end zone and credited his team for never giving up despite a big deficit in the last quarter.

“One play doesn’t lose the game,” White said. “We dropped the ball in the end zone, but we also didn’t execute some of the plays that we worked on all week.

“We never gave up, and I’m proud of the kids. When we got the fumble, I thought, ‘This is just like old times.’ I thought we were going to come back.”

White was alluding to Edison’s memorable 15-14 win over Fountain Valley in 1980 in which the Chargers overcame a 14-0 deficit in the fourth quarter and won on a 2-point conversion run with 39 seconds remaining.

Mike Milner, Fountain Valley coach, said he also flashed back to 1980 when Powe fumbled.

“My life flashed in front of me when we fumbled the ball,” Milner said. “I got comfortable for a while when we got the big lead, and then they started moving the ball.

“This game ranks right up there with some of the great games in the past. I thought we did a great job containing Angelovic in the first half, but he hurt us in the second half.”

Angelovic completed 14 of 31 pass attempts for 175 yards and added 90 yards rushing in 16 carries. On the flip side, Fountain Valley quarterback David Henigan completed 10 of 17 pass attempts for 152 yards.

Powe overshadowed both quarterbacks. He gained 138 yards in 27 carries, scoring touchdowns on runs of 3, 45, 4 and 1 yards.

The win was the fourth for Fountain Valley in the past 6 meetings between the schools but Edison still leads the series, 14-6-1.