Elijah Herrera, a second-team all-league running back last year, returns for his senior year and is a key figure in Edison’s backfield. The Chargers begin preparations Monday for the upcoming 2012 season. (SCOTT SMELTZER, HB Independent / September 23, 2011)

By Mike Sciacca HB Independent

3:40 p.m. EDT, August 8, 2012

Players to watch: Derek Baljeu (DE/FB, Sr.); Marquis Ross (RB, Sr.); Tico Fuga (OL/DL, Jr.); Trenton Aschoff (TE/LB, Sr.); Trevor Borkowski (WR/FS, Sr.); Dylan Luther (SS, Sr.); Jeremy Maxwell (WR/C, Jr.); Kiante Goudeau (WR/C, Jr.); Alek Torgersen (QB, Sr.); Alejandro Perez (LB, Sr.); Robert Reyes (FB, Sr.); Marcus Stepancich (WR, Sr.).

Coach's outlook: "Even though we lost a lot of very good players from last year's team, I believe we will be a very good team," White said. "We are big and strong on offense, and strong and quick on defense. Our inexperience is off-set by our hard work and athleticism. We should be a balanced offense and a 'bend but don't break' defense.

"Our league (Sunset) is tough with a lot of parity, so it will be tough to go 5-0. However, we will work very hard to defend our title. We are proud to have won the Sunset League eight out of the last 11 years."

Season opener: Aug. 31, at Los Angeles Garfield, 7 p.m.

*

The Schedule

Aug. 31: at Los Angeles Garfield, 7 p.m.

Sept. 6: vs. Villa Park, 7 p.m. (Huntington Beach High)

Sept. 14: at Servite, 7:30 p.m. (Cerritos College)

Sept. 21: vs. Mater Dei, 7 p.m. (Orange Coast College)

Sept. 28: at San Clemente, 7 p.m.

Oct. 4: *Newport Harbor, 7 p.m. (Huntington Beach High)

Oct. 11: at *Los Alamitos, 7 p.m. (Veterans Stadium)

Oct. 19: vs. *Marina, 7 p.m. (homecoming, Huntington Beach High)

Oct. 26: vs. *Fountain Valley, 7 p.m. (Orange Coast College)

Nov. 2: vs. *Huntington Beach, 7 p.m. (Huntington Beach High)

(*denotes league game)

michael.sciacca@latimes.com

Twitter: @MikeSciacca