EDISON HIGH’S football team will charge into the 2019 prep football season on Friday with a game in Hawaii (OC Tribune photo).

Aloha! The 2019-2020 high school sports season for Orange County is starting this week and will kick off about 2,500 miles away.

Although most local school systems are not beginning classes until a few weeks from now, Edison High’s football team is getting a bit of the jump on the season with a game on Friday (Aug. 16) against Baldwin High in Walluku, Hawaii.

The Chargers, under third-year coach Jeff Grady, are coming off a 5-6 season in 2018.  They finished third in the Sunset League race, suffering close losses to Corona del Mar and Los Alamitos.

EHS was knocked out of the CIF-SS Division 2 playoffs by San Juan Hills 22-15 in the opening round.

This year, the green-and-gold are in Division 3 and Maxpreps.com has them rated sixth, with league rival Los Al on top.

Edison’s not the only local team beginning the season early. Marina (3-7 last year) will host Wilson High of Long Beach on Thursday. The game will be on the Viking campus.

MHS is in the Big 4 League for football (the Sunset for other sports) and finished third in 2018.

More teams will be strapping on their helmets next week, with Bolsa Grande debuting in its brand-new campus stadium on Friday, Aug. 23, hosting Bosco Tech.

Other locals starting their 2019 campaigns next week will be Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, La Quinta, Loara, Los Amigos, Magnolia, Ocean View, Pacifica, Santiago and Western.

If you’re a fan of Garden Grove, Orange, Rancho Alamitos or Westminster, you’ll have to wait another week, with those teams starting on Aug. 29 or 30.

Prep Sports Spotlight appears in The Tribune on Tuesdays during the high school athletic season. Coaches, fans and parents are urged to set results, rosters, schedules and story ideas to us atorangecountytribune@gmail.com.