Stockton Showdown: Edison football blows out longtime rival Stagg
It only took two quarters for Edison football to suck the energy from Stagg’s sideline. Despite having a home-field advantage, the Delta Kings struggled against their long-time rival in Friday’s San Joaquin Athletic Association league play opener.
Edison would stake its claim to its sixth consecutive win over Stagg in the battle of Stockton winning the match 34-0.
“The game went how it was supposed to go, especially on defense,” said Desmond Bishop, Edison’s defensive coordinator. “I think we held them to maybe negative rushing yards and we knew they had a good running back coming in so on the defensive end we did a good job.”
Here is a breakdown of the Vikings' dominating victory over Stagg which marks the second SJAA opponent they’ve shut out.
Dangerous with the ball in his hands
Offensively, Edison put the game in the hands of sophomore quarterback Berrell Staples as the pass game would be the most fruitful against Stagg’s defense. It didn’t take the 6-foot-1 slinger long to get the Vikings rolling. He finished the game throwing for a total of 329 yards and four touchdowns.
Three of Staples' touchdown passes were caught by junior wideout Marcus Harrison, who was a big problem for the Delta Kings all night long.
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“I just have my eyes on the endzone, ready to score that’s it really,” Harrison said. “My guys did a good job blocking for me and I was just able to score.”
Nobody could stop the 5-foot-9 wide receiver once he caught the ball he took off turning a small gain into points for Edison. He finished the game with around 200 receiving yards and three touchdowns, two from 40-plus yards out.
“Marcus Harrison he’s a beast,” Bishop said. “With the ball in his hands you know it’s so dangerous and he’s one of our most consistent, very explosive guys we have on offense.”
Along with Harrison, Staples connected with junior wide receiver Isaac Sagapolu for a 70-yard touchdown. He also tacked on a one-yard quarterback sneak for a rushing touchdown.
Stagg’s offense hits a wall
While the Vikings were making highlight-reel plays on offense, Stagg struggled all game to make things happen. Typically junior running back Julian Benton gets the job done on the ground averaging 143 yards per game. Against Edison, Benton was held to around 66 rushing yards on 17 carries.
When the run game wasn’t working, the Delta Kings took to the air but couldn’t hold off Viking defenders long enough for quarterback Leanos Rhonesimo to make a play.
“Our offensive line is very very young and it's inexperienced,” said Don Norton, Stagg’s head coach. “They took advantage of that tonight, our youth and inexperience. Our guys worked hard, they battled but they're just so inexperienced that it just made it really tough for them.”
Not only did Stagg’s offensive line have to battle against inexperience but they had big defenders like Edison’s Javonnie Haymon breathing down their necks. The 6-foot-1, 240-pounder made his presence known with every snap ramming his way through to get a shot at Rhonesimo.
“He’s one of our leaders on and off the field,” Bishop said. “Javonnie does good in his preparation for games and he’s a staple on our defense.”
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Haymon and the rest of the Vikings' defense made it impossible for Stagg to convert on their drives despite getting in the red zone a couple of times throughout the night.
Edison will look to pull off another shutout in its next SJAA matchup against McNair on Sept. 22; Stagg will look to bounce back from the blowout in its Sept. 22 game against Weston Ranch.
Record reporter Shannon Belt covers sports. She can be reached at sbelt@recordnet.com or on Twitter @ShannonBelt3. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Stockton Showdown: Edison football blows out longtime rival Stagg
