With its solid receiving corps and a stingy defense, Edison of Huntington Beach emerges from a stacked field to win two-site, 16-team Air Strike Passing Tournament this past weekend in South Orange County. Read below for a quick recap of the event and some news and notes about some top players we evaluated.

By Ronnie Flores, Senior Editor

A handful of Southern California teams that figure to crack the top 25 of the CalHiSports.com preseason state football ratings converged on South Orange County this past Saturday to compete in the 2009 Air Strike 7-on-7 passing tournament.

Not only was this arguably the most talent-laden local passing tournament we've seen, it was also the longest, concluding at 6:30 pm after a 9:00 am start at Dana Hills and San Clemente High Schools.

When the dust settled, it was Edison of Huntington Beach that emerged victorious in the championship game over Oaks Christian of Westlake Village. The Lions will definitely be ranked ahead of the Chargers in the preseason ratings, but that didn't matter much on Saturday as coach Dave White's crew blanked the six-time defending CIFSS divisional champions, 26-0.

Edison, which finished 7-3 and in a wild five-way tie for the Sunset League title, had injury problems down the stretch last season. With the returning talent on hand, Edison should not only make a return to the postseason, but emerge as league favorites as long as the Chargers stay healthy.

Returning quarterback Matt Viles had a solid day and looked more comfortable under center than he did last summer. The one Chargers' wideout that really had a standout day was Jeff Trojan, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound senior-to-be. He was constantly separating from defenders underneath and making nice moves up field.

Trojan caught a three-yard touchdown pass from Viles to open the scoring in the championship game. The Chargers' second score came on a pretty 25-yard seam pass from Viles to Dylan Leener. Two-way standout Wade Houston then made the score 18-0 with his 10-yard touchdown catch over the middle from Viles and Leener closed out the scoring with a 17-yard touchdown catch.

Edison converted its final two-point conversion from the 10-yard line to close out the scoring, but it was a moot point as its defense was the story of the day. Following Edison's scores, its defense held Oaks Christian's high-powered offense out of the end-zone on each occasion. Nick Montana and company had no problem moving the ball, but every time the Lions got in the "red zone," Edison snuffed them out. All-state linebacker Jordon Zumwalt was his usual solid self, but the secondary really stepped up to do the job.

On a big third down play with Edison leading 12-0, Michael Rivera tipped a Montana pass intended for Malcolm Jones at the last moment that was a big momentum swinger. Rightside cornerback Luke Eddy also had a strong day and did a masterful job on Oaks Christian rising sophomore receiver Jordan Payton. Payton did have an interception off Viles in the championship game, but on the Lions' next offensive possession, Eddy stuck close to Payton on another crucial third down play and Montana wasn't able to complete his pass in the left corner of the end zone.

"Even though it was a long day, you guys gave a consistent and great effort," White told his troops after the championship game. "You guys did a lot of great things today. Every time on third down, we made a play."

Edison was the only team to finish the tournament undefeated at 6-0, but the Chargers might have been too good, as they were awarded a nearly three-hour bye (which is way too long for a passing tourney) in to the semifinals. When it was all said and done, Oaks Christian played eight games (which is way too many for a single-day passing tourney), losing only to Edison twice. The Lions defeated Trabuco Hills, Los Alamitos, Westview of San Diego, then lost to Edison 34-18. They worked themselves back to the semifinals with victories over Poly of Long Beach and a 20-12 quarterfinal win over Los Alamitos.

Although Edison corralled them in the championship game, Payton was the player who had the biggest coming out party at the Air Strike tournament. Although he only a sophomore-to-be, he's at least 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds with supreme confidence in his ability. He doesn't scare anyone (yet) with his top end speed, but he has a strong body and gets in and out of his breaks quite well for a young player. This year's Oaks Christian team will enevitibly be compared to its 2006 state team of the year. The conventional thinking is the team from three seasons ago had better wide receivers, but if Payton can make a similar impact to the one he made on Saturday with the pads on, the comparable difference might be minimal.

Jones, a powerful running back, made some big plays in the second victory over Los Alamitos, but there is still room for improvement. He had some drops out of the backfield that should have been caught by a back of his caliber and even fumbled a clean interception in the second game against the Griffins that negated the turnover. Jones' lateral quickness is another area he needs work in, but make no mistake, he is much more effective with pads on than he is in a passing league setting.

Montana, the son of Hall of Famer Joe Montana and a recent Washington commit, had no trouble moving the ball, even when the Lions were shut out in their second game against Edison. His mannerisms on the football field are strickingly similar to those of his father, even the way he trots to the huddle, gives a low five and greets his receivers after they score a touchdown. The younger Montana doesn't have the arm strength of a Jimmy Clausen or Matt Barkley, but he is a mobile pocket passer who also does a good job of throwing on the run. When Montana rolls on to his strong side, he has a tendency to place the ball high, but overall his touch and accuracy are first rate, especially in the middle of the field.

Oaks Christian and fellow Ventura County power St. Bonaventure, the two-time defending Div. III state champion, came quite a ways to compete at the Air Strike Tournament and it would have been an exciting game if the two schools would have met since they won't during the 2009 season. The match up was tharted when St. Bonnie was defeated by Edison in the semifinals, 20-7. Edison again held an opponent on three consecutive possessions and the offense came in the form of a touchdown by Trojan, an interception returned for a touchdown and a touchdown by Rivera.

Tesoro of Las Flores also had a bye to the semifinals after defeating Santa Margarita, Crespi of Encino and avenging an opening round loss to St. Bonnie with a 28-14 victory. In its semifinal, the Titans were out of sync (and not too happy with the referees), dropping a 25-6 decision to Oaks Christian. Payton and Jones led the way with two touchdowns apiece, including an interception return by Jones from his linebacker position.

Air Strike News & Notes

*Servite of Anaheim did an admirable job without starting quarterback Cody Fajarado, winning three of four games before losing to St. Bonaventure in the quarterfinals. Servite beat Narbonne of Harbor City, Santa Maragarita and avenged a loss to Crespi of Encino before falling to the Seraphs. The Friars had a tough draw, but that nothing compared to their 2009 regular season scehdule. Servite's non-league schedule includes Long Beach Poly, Clovis West of Fresno, Crespi, tourney champ Edison, and Chaparral of Temucla before they jump into Trinity League play. Friars coach Troy Thomas found out he has two dependable back-up signal callers, sophomores Butch Pauu and Cody Pittman, to navigate through that brutal schedule.

*Los Alamitos' replacement for three-year starter Clark Evans under center is a scrappy left-hander named Brian Cook. Cook doesn't bring the physical presence that Evans did at the position, but he has nice touch and knows how to check off to his secondary receivers. He reminds us some of former Laguna Hills, Saddleback JC and CAL signal-caller Justin Vedder with his delivery and mobility.

*Long Beach Poly, the defending CIF Southern Section Pac-Five champions, must replace eleven senior starters and two-year starting quarterback Morgan Fannell, but don't expect a huge drop off for the Jackrabbits. Whomever replaces Fennell under center will look to hook up with Alex Cannon often. Poly receiving corps had a couple of down years by its own standards, but if Cannon can stay healthy he should make quite an impact because of his athleticism, size and ability to go after the ball. He has been injured for much of his prep career, so the Poly coaching staff is hoping for a breakout year. On defense, junior DB Kameron Jackson looks like a gem. He's tall and rangy and made some nice plays on Saturday. Jackson will start for two years and, remember, this is a program that had to replace its entire secondary from 2007 and still produced defensive backs who received scholarships to Nebraska (Lazzari Middleton) and UCLA (Stan McKay) after starting only their senior seasons.

* Lakewood has generated a lot of preseason buzz because of its slew of returning players, including all-state underclass DB Dion Bailey and Elite 11 QB Jessie Scroggins. The Lancers, however, were out of sync on Saturday and finished with a 2-3 record. Part of the problem was that Scroggins had an injured hip and wasn't even sure if he was going to play earlier in the week. The Lancers season opener on the road against L.A. City Section power Crenshaw is a game we're likely to check out and, of course, they have a huge Moore League showdown with Long Beach Poly, a school that enters the 2009 season riding a state-record 79-game league winning streak and that has beaten the Lancers every season since 1982.

*Mater Dei of Santa Ana has to replace four-year starter Matt Barkley under center and regardless of whom emerges, we're pretty sure the new signal-caller will often look in the direction of Victor Blackwell. The 6-foot-1 junior-to-be was the most impressive player we saw in the early rounds before the noon lunch break. He made quite a few spectacular grabs in traffic and will be relied on heavily this fall to balance out a Mater Dei offense that should run the ball a lot more than it has in the past two seasons.