Edison wins Central Section Division I championship after dramatic extra time goal
Femi Olukanni knows all about coming up short in the Central Section playoffs. The longtime coach has seen it all during his tenure.
His team faced a big task in facing the back-to-back champion and top-seeded Clovis North on Thursday night in front of hundreds of fans who knew the match would be a dandy.
The teams delivered in a big way — and Olukanni is probably more overjoyed than ever.
Eliesar Reyes scored on a free kick in the final minute of extra time to give the sixth-seeded Tigers a 3-2 victory over the Broncos in the Division I championship — their first section title since 2000.
“I knew I had to take that one,” Reyes said. “I knew I was going right down low, and that’s where I shot it. I didn’t think twice. I shot it, and it went in. I thank God for that.”
After what would be the deciding goal, Reyes sprinted to the sideline and did a slide to celebrate with teammates. Edison knew it would never be easy against a tough Broncos under first-year coach John Spurgeon.
Edison took a 2-0 lead, but the Broncos stormed back to tie it. The match settled after the goal in extra time that proved to be the biggest difference.
“We just came with the right mindset that we were going to win,” Reyes said. “We have faith in God, and we just came and did our game.”
Edison’s road to the championship was not easy. The Tigers defeated No. 11 Golden West 2-1 then followed that with a shootout win over No. 3 Clovis West. Then it was another one-goal game, defeating No. 2 Ridgeview 3-2.
Olukanni screamed out “Edison is back. Edison is back.” Can’t argue that point for the Tigers under Olukanni’s leadership.
“Oh man, we’re back,” he said. “We’ve been working so hard. God is good. God is really good. If you trust him, anything is possible. Our program is back because we’ve come down, now we are back. These players are the ones that were brought in as freshmen. Now they are all seniors and juniors, so it’s working out.”
Edison is not done yet for the season as it awaits the CIF to announce regional pairings this weekend.
Division IV girls: Top-seed Fresno Christian made quick work of No. 3 Porterville, coming out on top for a 6-0 victory, giving the Eagles another section title to the one they won in 2021. Trinity Bannister had nine saves for Fresno Christian.
This story was originally published February 28, 2025 at 7:20 AM.
