{"id":439839,"date":"2026-08-21T22:36:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T22:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/439839\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T22:36:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T22:36:14","slug":"huntington-beach-lights-up-scoreboard-in-opening-win-over-millikan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/439839\/","title":{"rendered":"Huntington Beach lights up scoreboard in opening win over Millikan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

LONG BEACH\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Brady Edmunds began his farewell tour in fierce form, breaking records, hitting milestones (nearing others) and tossing six touchdown passes \u2014 no record, but close \u2014 as Huntington Beach romped in its Thursday night season opener.<\/p>\n

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\u2019 as a prospective CIF Southern Section title contender.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

At this pace, he\u2019ll hit 10,000 before the Delta League kicks off Oct. 2. He needs just 222 yards \u2014 next week against Los Alamitos \u2014 to reach that mark for total yards (passing, rushing and receiving).<\/p>\n

\"Huntington <\/p>\n

Huntington Beach quarterback Brady Edmunds (9) runs through the middle against Millikan in a nonleague football opener on Thursday.<\/p>\n

(James Carbone)<\/p>\n

He did all this as something of a support act.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cBruce, he helped out with [Edmunds\u2019 record night],\u201d said second-year head coach Matthew Hatchette, a former NFL receiver. \u201cTook a couple to the house, and he is a \u2018guy.\u2019 You know, all these writers talking about he\u2019s not a two-way guy. Right? Dylin Bruce is a two-way guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Huntington <\/p>\n

Huntington Beach\u2019s Skylar Robinson (8) advances the ball against Millikan on Thursday.<\/p>\n

(James Carbone)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI caught the ball, I\u2019d seen green grass,\u201d Bruce said of the first. \u201cI had to go. I knew it was my touchdown.\u201d <\/p>\n

He caught the second at the 11, and going toward the corner \u2014 where he could get out of bounds if needed \u2014 curled inside to fight into the end zone. The second? \u201cTo be honest, I wasn\u2019t even realizing how much time was on the clock. I just knew I could make a play for my team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bruce\u2019s third score, on a 36-yard, end-zone bomb one play after a botched Millikan punt, showed off Edmunds\u2019 big-play arm.<\/p>\n

\"Huntington <\/p>\n

Huntington Beach\u2019s Dylin Bruce (2) yells out in celebration after scoring a touchdown against Millikan.<\/p>\n

(James Carbone)<\/p>\n

\u201cBrady\u2019s a good quarterback,\u201d Rams head coach Romeo Pellum said. \u201cMan, he\u2019s a really good quarterback, probably number one in the country, in my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

What about the Huntington Beach receivers?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was Brady,\u201d Pellum added.<\/p>\n

\"Huntington <\/p>\n

Huntington Beach\u2019s Jacob Simpson (22) dives to tackle Millikan\u2019s Ryan Carter (7) in a nonleague football opener on Thursday.<\/p>\n

(James Carbone)<\/p>\n

Hatchette has seen great improvement since the Oilers\u2019 2025 campaign ended in a Division 3 first-round game<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cNight and day from a football perspective,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause you understand the system. My system is a very college, NFL-heavy, a lot of verbiage and learning [that] is one thing. <\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing how to play football, that\u2019s a whole other thing. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s getting in and out the huddle \u2014 getting the verbiage clearly in and out the huddle \u2014 and it\u2019s getting your team in a better play when the defense does something to take away the first read. … That\u2019s what playing football is, and he\u2019s starting to understand that. He\u2019s done a great job over the last six to eight months as just creating himself, making himself into a quarterback, into a college quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Huntington <\/p>\n

Huntington Beach quarterback Brady Edmunds (9) and his coach watch their defense against Millikan on Thursday.<\/p>\n

(James Carbone)<\/p>\n

Edmunds benefited greatly from the prestigious Elite 11 camp in late May at Mira Costa.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have grown a ton in leadership capabilities,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been through a lot this offseason, in terms of Elite 11. It\u2019s a really, really good camp, and I learned a lot from that \u2014 the classroom side, stuff like that. I think I grew as a person, really, and I think that translated to football.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t perfect. Edmunds gifted Millikan its first touchdown \u2014 a 1-yard Aaden Muasau push \u2014 by throwing an interception on the Oilers\u2019 second play after halftime, right into Matteo Palma\u2019s arms, then making the tackle at the Huntington Beach 8-yard line.<\/p>\n

\"Huntington <\/p>\n

Huntington Beach\u2019s Dallas \u201cDJ\u201d Miller (6) tackles Millikan\u2019s Ryan Carter (7) in a nonleague football opener on Thursday.<\/p>\n

(James Carbone)<\/p>\n

\u201cA mental mistake,\u201d Hatchette called it. \u201cHe\u2019ll correct that.\u201d Said Edmunds: \u201cI knew it, too. I got a little greedy, but it\u2019s how you respond, and I think we responded pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Huntington <\/p>\n

Huntington Beach\u2019s Kye Crump (7) runs through the defense after a reception against Millikan on Thursday.<\/p>\n

(James Carbone)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Huntington <\/p>\n

Huntington Beach quarterback Brady Edmunds (9) passes against Millikan in a nonleague opener.<\/p>\n

(James Carbone)<\/p>\n

Nonleague<\/p>\n

Huntington Beach 42, Millikan 14<\/p>\n

SCORE BY QUARTERS<\/p>\n

Huntington Beach 0 – 14 – 14 – 14 \u2014 42<\/p>\n

Millikan 0 – 0 – 14 – 0 \u2014 14<\/p>\n

FIRST QUARTER<\/p>\n

None.<\/p>\n

SECOND QUARTER<\/p>\n

HB \u2014 Bruce 82 pass from Brady Edmunds (Newmaster kick), 6:36.<\/p>\n

HB \u2014 Bruce 29 pass from Brady Edmunds (Newmaster kick), 0:06.<\/p>\n

THIRD QUARTER<\/p>\n

M \u2014 Muasau 1 run (Gonzalez kick), 10:32.<\/p>\n

HB \u2014 Crump 5 pass from Brady Edmunds (Newmaster kick), 8:26.<\/p>\n

HB \u2014 Bruce 36 pass from Brady Edmunds (Newmaster kick), 7:08.<\/p>\n

M \u2014 R. Carter 3 run (Gonzalez kick), 2:11.<\/p>\n

FOURTH QUARTER<\/p>\n

HB \u2014 Robinson 25 pass from Brady Edmunds (Newmaster kick), 9:55.<\/p>\n

HB \u2014 Navarette 17 pass from Brady Edmunds (Newmaster kick), 3:51.<\/p>\n

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING<\/p>\n

HB \u2014 Brady Edmunds, 6-30; Santillan, 7-24; Miller, 10-11; Crump, 1-3; Gonzales, 2-(-2).<\/p>\n

M \u2014 R. Carter, 17-100, 1 TD; Tuaniga, 2-5; Muasau, 1-1, 1 TD; White, 1-(-1); Lowrey, 1-(-8).<\/p>\n

INDIVIDUAL PASSING<\/p>\n

HB \u2014 Brady Edmunds, 25-33-1, 446 yards, 6 TDs; Herman, 1-1-0, 5 yards.<\/p>\n

M \u2014 Tuaniga, 15-25-1, 144 yards; Diaz, 1-2, 2 yards.<\/p>\n

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING<\/p>\n

HB \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

M \u2014 Williams, 6-84; Taufa, 5-44; R. Carter, 3-21; White, 1-2; Reichard,1-(-5).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONG BEACH\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Brady Edmunds began his farewell tour in fierce form, breaking records, hitting milestones (nearing others) and tossing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":439840,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[174415,4472,174410,119484,174411,588,174413,131,133,132,61284,174412,7176,3238,174414,11136,780,1539],"class_list":["post-439839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-aaden-muasau","tag-ball","tag-brady-edmunds","tag-bruce","tag-hb","tag-huntington-beach","tag-kye-crump","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-millikan","tag-newmaster-kick","tag-oilers","tag-play","tag-skylar-robinson","tag-td","tag-touchdown","tag-yard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}