Oct. 11--With red hair, braces on his teeth and a smile that makes others around him feel comfortable, sophomore quarterback Griffin O'Connor of Huntington Beach Edison has the "mojo" to succeed on a football field.
He had been Edison's junior varsity quarterback until starter Grant Lowary suffered a shoulder in the first quarter Thursday night, forcing Coach Dave White to insert O'Connor in a critical Sunset League opener against Los Alamitos.
O'Connor was more than up for the task, improvising and showing lots of poise in a 17-14 victory. He passed for 217 yards and one touchdown and ran for 65 yards and one touchdown.
"You can't be nervous going into a big varsity game," he said. "Otherwise, it's going to freak you out and mess up your mojo. And I didn't want to do that."
O'Connor, 16, is 6 feet 2 and an A student. How he handled himself during and after the game offers hope the Chargers have a future standout.
"I was just proud to be a Charger," he said.
Parents don't like their sons being backups, particularly at quarterback, but coaches need one in case of an injury, and several backups pulled out wins Friday.
Aaron Simpson, filling in for an injured Tyler Lytle, scored on a 22-yard touchdown run with six seconds left, then completed a pass to Ryan Melvin for the two-point conversion, giving Anaheim Servite a 39-38 Trinity League win over San Juan Capistrano JSerra.
Carter Jaenichen, filling in for the injured Devon Modster, rallied Rancho Santa Margarita Tesoro to a 31-28 win over Lake Forest El Toro.
Dymond Lee, who has been splitting time with Tommy Costello at West Hills Chaminade, took the Eagles on a 96-yard game-winning drive, completing a touchdown pass to T.J. Pledger with eight seconds left to give the Eagles a 43-40 Mission League win over Mission Hills Alemany.
Star running backs
Claremont is 6-0 and has a running back to watch in junior Duy Tran-Sampson, who gained 232 yards in 36 carries in a 33-29 victory over La Verne Bonita.
Tran-Sampson, 6 feet 1, 195 pounds, had 1,525 yards rushing as a sophomore and has 1,138 yards this season.
Gil'Scott Jackson of Westlake Village Oaks Christian rushed for 284 yards and scored five touchdowns in a 48-7 win over Thousand Oaks. The Lions are 6-0.
Coaching milestone
Mike Marrujo of Placentia Valencia won his 300th career game in a 42-0 win over La Palma Kennedy. He has been coaching for 35 years at Valencia.
Freshman star
Freshman quarterback J.T. Daniels of Santa Ana Mater Dei passed for 454 yards and four touchdowns in a 49-35 win over Orange Lutheran. Next up is unbeaten Bellflower St. John Bosco (6-0).
eric.sondheimer@latimes.com
