PREP EXTRA / SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS : DIVISION I : Fontana Dominates Edison, and Faces Bishop Amat Next

FONTANA —  Fontana played brilliantly Friday night in defeating Edison, 30-7, in the opening round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs in front of about 2,500 at Fontana.

So what’s the Steelers’ reward? A second-round meeting with La Puente Bishop Amat, The Times No. 1-ranked team.

“Hey, we’ve got to play (Bishop Amat) sometime, we might as well play them now,” Fontana Coach Dick Bruich said. “If we can’t beat them now we won’t beat them later.”

Fontana running back Art Gipson rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns, including a game-breaking 84-yard scamper in the fourth quarter.

Charger quarterback Patrick Markovsky, who was harassed in the backfield and in the secondary, completed 15 passes for 159 yards, and was intercepted twice. He also was sacked four times for minus-33 yards.

“We didn’t do anything right on offense,” Edison Coach Dave White said. “Their defense dominated the football game.” The 12th-ranked Chargers finish 8-3.

Despite dominating for much of the first three quarters, No. 17 Fontana (8-3) led only, 14-7, after three quarters.

But Lucien Robinson gave the Steelers a 21-7 cushion early in the fourth quarter, when he found room over the right side and scampered 53 yards for a score.

Fontana added a safety when Oskar Reyes blocked an Edison punt out of the end zone with 9:38 left.

The Steelers closed out the scoring with 7:38 remaining on Gipson’s long touchdown run.

Fontana took a 14-0 lead midway through the third quarter when Gipson broke a tackle over the left side and ran it in for a 24-yard touchdown.