Westchester High Has Found a Winner in Quarterback Edwards : Football: The junior has always been associated with winning teams, including his days as a mascot for his brother’s Pop Warner squad.

Westchester High quarterback Seka Edwards sat quietly in the press box next to his coach, Larry Wein, at Jackie Robinson Stadium earlier this season during the Fairfax-Dorsey game.

With every play, Edwards seemed to be devising a game plan that would work against both teams’ defenses.

“Maybe a draw play would work now,” Edwards whispered to Wein before a third-down play. “Or maybe a screen pass.”

Edwards did more than watch the game. He broke it down so that it was a learning experience.

“His intelligence is his greatest strength as a quarterback,” Wein said. “He really knows what he is doing out there on the field.”

In his first full season as Westchester’s starting quarterback, Edwards has led the Comets (8-1) to the Western League title and a berth in the City Section 4-A Division playoffs.

The Comets will begin their quest for a second City title in six years when they host Van Nuys in a first-round game tonight.

After sharing time last season with Richard Bowden, Edwards has emerged as one of the City’s best quarterbacks. He has completed 74 of 161 passes for 1,426 yards and 22 touchdowns.

“Since last year, Seka has had a lot of growth and development as a quarterback,” Wein said. “He really has learned the plays and formations. He also has a knack for knowing what plays will work well against certain defenses.”

Edwards is a 6-foot, 160-pound junior with a history of being associated with winning teams.

When he was 3 years old, Edwards was the team mascot for his brother’s Inglewood Pop Warner team.

“I used to go to his games dressed up in a little football uniform,” Edwards said. “It was fun, but I didn’t know much about football then.”

His brother’s team had a 30-1 record with Edwards as mascot.

“We had a lot of people who played that have made it big, including Curtis Conway, who is now at USC,” said Brian Bowers, Edwards’ brother. “Most of the team got a kick out of having Seka around. They would play with him all the time.”

Bowers, a wide receiver on Westchester’s City championship team in 1987, said Edwards has benefited from his early start in football.

“Seka has always been around winning teams,” said Bowers, who is studying law at Hastings College of Law in San Francisco after graduating from UCLA in the spring. “The one thing that you can say about him is that he knows what it is like to win.”

When Edwards began to play organized sports, he led Pop Warner football and Little League baseball teams to the playoffs.

“I’ve always liked sports and have always done well,” Edwards said. “I’ve been around sports for so long that understanding what goes on has always come easy for me.”

Edwards--whose mother is an office manager and father owns a hair salon--has a 3.3 grade-point average and plans to study computer engineering in college,

“Seka is a good student with great character,” Wein said. “It all comes because he has a good family background.”

In helping to keep Westchester undefeated this season, Edwards has shown the ability to make big plays.

“Seka just loves to compete,” Wein said. “He has an outstanding arm and has mobility a lot better than a lot of athletes.”

Edwards thinks that Westchester can win the City championship. With running backs Jermaine Lewis and Oliver Barnes combining for 19 touchdowns and 1,250 yards, Edwards’ passing keeps opponents off guard.

“I never saw us having this type of season,” Edwards said. “But we do have good team balance. We can run and pass, and that makes us difficult to stop.”

If Westchester gets past Van Nuys, the Comets could play defending champion Dorsey in the second round.

“Even though we’ve been winning, people around the school have not really been all that excited,” Edwards said. “What they’ve been waiting for is for us to play one of the big schools. Playing Dorsey will do that.”