LONG BEACH — Brady Edmunds began his farewell tour in fierce form, breaking records, hitting milestones (nearing others) and tossing six touchdown passes — no record, but close — as Huntington Beach romped in its Thursday night season opener.
The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Edmunds, an Elite 11 pick headed to Ohio State, threw for a school-record 446 yards and surpassed 9,000 for his prep career to pace a 42-14 triumph at Long Beach Millikan, showing off his credentials as a top-tier prospect and the Oilers’ as a prospective CIF Southern Section title contender.
He ran for a team-topping 30 yards, had a career-best 25 completions, and his 446 passing yards topped the 414 he put up as a sophomore against Foothill while pushing his career total to 9,083.
At this pace, he’ll hit 10,000 before the Delta League kicks off Oct. 2. He needs just 222 yards — next week against Los Alamitos — to reach that mark for total yards (passing, rushing and receiving).
Huntington Beach quarterback Brady Edmunds (9) runs through the middle against Millikan in a nonleague football opener on Thursday.
(James Carbone)
He did all this as something of a support act.
Two-way star Dylin Bruce was the exhilarating presence for Huntington Beach, catching 10 balls for 225 yards and three touchdowns, recovering a fumble, intercepting a pass and quieting Jay Williams, Millikan’s North Carolina-bound receiver. He led a receiving corps that saw fine outings by Skylar Robinson (seven catches for 118 yards), who missed last season through injury, and Kye Crump (four catches for 64 yards), both with touchdowns.
“Bruce, he helped out with [Edmunds’ record night],” said second-year head coach Matthew Hatchette, a former NFL receiver. “Took a couple to the house, and he is a ‘guy.’ You know, all these writers talking about he’s not a two-way guy. Right? Dylin Bruce is a two-way guy.”
Huntington Beach’s Skylar Robinson (8) advances the ball against Millikan on Thursday.
(James Carbone)
Bruce was the catalyst as the Oilers grabbed a 14-0 halftime lead, sprinting most of the 82-yard pass play after taking a pass on a slant and racing past two defenders midway through the second half, then dancing past three more Rams on a 29-yard touchdown six seconds before the break.
“I caught the ball, I’d seen green grass,” Bruce said of the first. “I had to go. I knew it was my touchdown.”
He caught the second at the 11, and going toward the corner — where he could get out of bounds if needed — curled inside to fight into the end zone. The second? “To be honest, I wasn’t even realizing how much time was on the clock. I just knew I could make a play for my team.”
Bruce’s third score, on a 36-yard, end-zone bomb one play after a botched Millikan punt, showed off Edmunds’ big-play arm.
Huntington Beach’s Dylin Bruce (2) yells out in celebration after scoring a touchdown against Millikan.
(James Carbone)
“Brady’s a good quarterback,” Rams head coach Romeo Pellum said. “Man, he’s a really good quarterback, probably number one in the country, in my opinion.”
What about the Huntington Beach receivers?
“I think it was Brady,” Pellum added.
Huntington Beach’s Jacob Simpson (22) dives to tackle Millikan’s Ryan Carter (7) in a nonleague football opener on Thursday.
(James Carbone)
Hatchette has seen great improvement since the Oilers’ 2025 campaign ended in a Division 3 first-round game.
“Night and day from a football perspective,” he said, “because you understand the system. My system is a very college, NFL-heavy, a lot of verbiage and learning [that] is one thing.
“Knowing how to play football, that’s a whole other thing. It’s like kids at 12 and 13, 14 learn how to throw. They have all these coaches and gurus out here. But learning to play quarterback is something totally different, and it has nothing to do with throwing the ball, as funny as that sounds.
“It’s getting in and out the huddle — getting the verbiage clearly in and out the huddle — and it’s getting your team in a better play when the defense does something to take away the first read. … That’s what playing football is, and he’s starting to understand that. He’s done a great job over the last six to eight months as just creating himself, making himself into a quarterback, into a college quarterback.”
Huntington Beach quarterback Brady Edmunds (9) and his coach watch their defense against Millikan on Thursday.
(James Carbone)
Edmunds benefited greatly from the prestigious Elite 11 camp in late May at Mira Costa.
“I have grown a ton in leadership capabilities,” he said. “I’ve been through a lot this offseason, in terms of Elite 11. It’s a really, really good camp, and I learned a lot from that — the classroom side, stuff like that. I think I grew as a person, really, and I think that translated to football.”
It wasn’t perfect. Edmunds gifted Millikan its first touchdown — a 1-yard Aaden Muasau push — by throwing an interception on the Oilers’ second play after halftime, right into Matteo Palma’s arms, then making the tackle at the Huntington Beach 8-yard line.
Huntington Beach’s Dallas “DJ” Miller (6) tackles Millikan’s Ryan Carter (7) in a nonleague football opener on Thursday.
(James Carbone)
“A mental mistake,” Hatchette called it. “He’ll correct that.” Said Edmunds: “I knew it, too. I got a little greedy, but it’s how you respond, and I think we responded pretty well.”
Huntington Beach scored on three of its next four possessions to build a big lead from a one-touchdown advantage. Crump went to the ground at the goal line to snare a third-down touchdown pass to make it 21-7, Bruce pushed the lead to three scores, Robinson beat four Rams on a 25-yard score at the start of the fourth quarter and Nicolas Navarette completed the rout with a little less than four minutes to play.
Huntington Beach’s Kye Crump (7) runs through the defense after a reception against Millikan on Thursday.
(James Carbone)
The Oilers struggled to run the ball (63 yards on 25 carries, only four gains of 5 or more, the two longest by Edmunds) and were penalized 14 times for 108 yards, killing both first-quarter drives, and costing Edmunds 48 passing yards. Worse, star safety Jimmel Champion exited with a shoulder injury late in the first half.
Linebacker Xavier Atkinson (10 tackles, eight solo) led a strong defensive effort that limited sophomore quarterback Jonah Tuaniga (15 of 25, 144 yards) and slowed down star running back Ryan Carter (100 yards), allowing Millikan just one completed drive.
Huntington Beach quarterback Brady Edmunds (9) passes against Millikan in a nonleague opener.
(James Carbone)
Nonleague
Huntington Beach 42, Millikan 14
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Huntington Beach 0 – 14 – 14 – 14 — 42
Millikan 0 – 0 – 14 – 0 — 14
FIRST QUARTER
None.
SECOND QUARTER
HB — Bruce 82 pass from Brady Edmunds (Newmaster kick), 6:36.
HB — Bruce 29 pass from Brady Edmunds (Newmaster kick), 0:06.
THIRD QUARTER
M — Muasau 1 run (Gonzalez kick), 10:32.
HB — Crump 5 pass from Brady Edmunds (Newmaster kick), 8:26.
HB — Bruce 36 pass from Brady Edmunds (Newmaster kick), 7:08.
M — R. Carter 3 run (Gonzalez kick), 2:11.
FOURTH QUARTER
HB — Robinson 25 pass from Brady Edmunds (Newmaster kick), 9:55.
HB — Navarette 17 pass from Brady Edmunds (Newmaster kick), 3:51.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
HB — Brady Edmunds, 6-30; Santillan, 7-24; Miller, 10-11; Crump, 1-3; Gonzales, 2-(-2).
M — R. Carter, 17-100, 1 TD; Tuaniga, 2-5; Muasau, 1-1, 1 TD; White, 1-(-1); Lowrey, 1-(-8).
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
HB — Brady Edmunds, 25-33-1, 446 yards, 6 TDs; Herman, 1-1-0, 5 yards.
M — Tuaniga, 15-25-1, 144 yards; Diaz, 1-2, 2 yards.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
HB — Bruce, 10-225, 3 TDs; Robinson, 7-118, 1 TD; Crump, 4-64, 1 TD; Navarette, 2-25, 1 TD; Miller, 1-7; Santillan, 1-6; Clough, 1-5.
M — Williams, 6-84; Taufa, 5-44; R. Carter, 3-21; White, 1-2; Reichard,1-(-5).