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Edison High clips Tulare in D-I playoffs

By Andrew Rich - Special to The Bee

Friday, Nov. 25, 2011 | 11:25 PM

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Edison High got a breakout performance just when it needed it most Friday night.

Sophomore Blake Wright ran for 219 yards and four touchdowns to propel the Tigers past Tulare 27-21 in a Central Section Division I quarterfinal playoff game at McLane Stadium.

Wright's last touchdown came with 2:12 left in the game to break a 21-21 tie. The win over the seventh-seeded Redskins was secured only after two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties put Tulare in a fourth-and-31 from their own 7. The Redskins were upset about a no-call on an apparent pass interference – the same kind of call that went against Tulare during the Tigers' winning drive.

View game stats and details

Edison's winning drive was a 15-play, 85-yard march. The Tigers converted three third-downs and a fourth-and-9 that put the ball at the Tulare 7. On the fourth-down play, Khari McGee hit a wide-open Preston Scott for 16 yards. Scott broke open after Tulare's Jakob Stevens slipped and fell.

Two plays later, Wright pounded it in from a yard out.

"Blake stepped up," said Edison coach Tim McDonald. "We knew he was capable and had been getting better."

The final drive was set up by Bobby Peele's fumble recovery at the Edison 4-yard line. Peele scooped up a fumble by Xavier Stephens and returned it 11 yards.

"I saw the defensive end strip it and I was thinking 'scoop and score,' " said Peele. "I grabbed it and made a big play."

That was the last play of a crazy sequence that saw three turnovers in the span of 1:15.

Stephens was held to 71 yards on 16 carries. He scored on a 4-yard run with 2:10 in the third quarter that tied it at 21.

"We talked about stopping the run," McDonald said. "We wanted to make them one-dimensional."

Reyes passed for 218 yards but never could hit the big play.

Edison advances to a rematch with rival Bullard next Friday either at McLane Stadium or Sunnyside Stadium. Edison beat Bullard 52-50 in the regular season.

"We're so ready," said Wright. "Ready for Bullard. It's a rivalry game, game of the year."


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  • Tulare High routs Buchanan in D-I playoffs

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