Locked in: Edison football hopes to solidify itself as top team in Stockton
The past few seasons, Edison football has been just games away from achieving a championship and solidifying itself as one of the top programs in Stockton.
Last year the Vikings ended their season in the second round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs with a 29-23 loss to St. Mary’s. In 2019, a heartbreaking 45-42 second round loss against Folsom took them out of the running for a section championship.
Winning a section championship is the goal for head coach Booker Guyton and his team this upcoming season.
“Our program will have arrived once we've done that,” he said. “We always start off strong with our first playoff game, and then we get to the second round, and we sputter, so I want to get past that.”
For Subscribers: 2022 San Joaquin County high school football schedules
The Vikings will have four returners on offense and eight on defense with the main chunk of their team coming up from junior varsity. Guyton says that depth may be an issue for this year’s team, the leaders he has returning will play a big role in trying to get past their second-round slump.
Defensively, junior defensive end Javonni Haymon is expected to be a key returner for Edison. Last season he led the defense with tackles per game 8.7 tackles. This year, he will step up as one of the captains and a leader for the younger less experienced players on the defense.
Offensively, one of the four returners will be senior Lorenzen Horace, who was the backup quarterback last year. Although he only threw for one touchdown in his junior season, Horace has emerged as one of two quarterbacks competing to be the go-to guy come Aug. 19.
“He was here last year so he's on the hunt for the quarterback job and he's got a young kid pushing him,” Guyton said. “Burrel Staples, he's our new guy, he's in the ninth grade and he's pushing our senior. It’s healthy competition and we love it and it's bringing the best out of Horace.”
For Subscribers: 25 Sac-Joaquin Section high school football players to watch
In addition to earning his starting spot, Horace is hoping his last season as a Viking will be a redemption year from being a stalemate for the past two years in the playoffs.
“Although I wasn't playing the game, I didn't like it and I took it to heart,” Horace said of last year's loss to St. Mary’s. “Taking the reins for my senior year I'm trying to make some plays for us and try to win any Battles of Stockton that we have so we can take the team to the next level.”
A part of the keys outside of having skilled players is Guyton and his staff’s saying “Lock In.” This motto is Edison’s football guide in becoming a more cohesive team from the freshman team to the varsity team.
“We want you to lock in, be focused, be attentive to what we're doing,” Guyton said. “We want you to lock in academically, lock in athletically, lock in spiritually, lock in even at home with your family. The more we know about each other, the easier it is for us to play on the field.”
The Vikings will test the strength of those locks starting the season off in a home game vs. Central at 7 p.m on Aug. 19.
More San Joaquin County high school football:
Undefeated and unfazed: St. Mary's football the team to beat in TCAL
Derek Graves: Building a program, culture and family atmosphere at Kimball
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 recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Edison football hopes to solidify itself as top team in Stockton
