EDISON CHARGERS charged to their 14th win in 15 games in the Battle for the Bell between rivals Edison and Fountain Valley High in 2018 (Orange County Tribune photos by Jim Tortolano).

For many years one of the biggest Orange County high school football contests of the season was The Battle for the Bell  between rivals Edison and Fountain Valley. Throughout the Seventies and Eighties they battled to settle the Sunset League title before capacity crowds at LeBard Stadium on the Orange Coast College campus in Costa Mesa.

Well, times have changed. The Chargers have gained the upper hand; the games are no longer close and – as of this season – there is no Sunset League (at least) for football.

But despite that, a big crowd is expected at LeBard on Friday. Edison is 2-2 after playing a tough pre-league schedule; the Barons are 1-3. The green-and-gold have to be considered the favorites, but in a big game, anything can happen.

SO CLOSE: Garden Grove High’s football team has a new coach – Matthew LemMon – and a rough start at 1-3. But that could be a little deceiving. The Argonauts lost two of those games by two and one points, meaning they are four points away from being 3-1 instead.

They have some real talent in running back Quentin Pacelli, who is averaging 126 yards rushing per game, and sophomore quarterback Calvin Keovphan, who threw for two scores last week against Gahr,

CLIMB THE LADDER: This week’s High Five for The Tribune coverage areas is topped again by Edison, which has evened its record at 2-2. You’ll notice that these rankings – based on the point system of MaxPreps.com – has three teams with 2-2 marks and one at 0-4. The only one with a winning record is Marina (4-0).

That’s because of strength of schedule. As we said a few weeks ago, tough games can make for tough teams.

THE KICKOFF: Here’s this week’s schedule for teams serving our West Orange County cities. As always, the dates, times, locations, opponents and days are subject to change without notice. Times are generally 7 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 19

Ocean View (0-4) at Bolsa Grande (1-2); Los Amigos (3-0) at Nogales (2-1).

Friday, Sept. 20

Edison (2-2) vs. Fountain Valley (1-3) at Orange Coast College; Garden Grove (1-3) at University/Irvine (1-2); Huntington Beach (2-2) at Mayfair (3-1); La Quinta (3-0) at Glenn (1-2); Esperanza (2-1) at Marina (4-0); Redondo Union (2-1) at Orange (0-4); Pacifica (1-3) at Walnut (3-1); Godinez Fundamental (2-2) at Rancho Alamitos (3-0); Estancia (2-1) at Santiago (1-2); Lynwood (3-0) at Magnolia (0-4).