Edison rides another big game from Julius Gillick to even record
Edison can breathe again, the hauntings of two losses in the closing seconds to open the season firmly behind it, after the Chargers evened their record on Friday night.
Julius Gillick rushed for 215 yards and two touchdowns, as the Edison football team pounced on Palos Verdes for a 41-7 nonleague win in its home opener at ‘Cap’ Sheue Field.
It was a prototypical performance for the Montana commit, who has dominated with four 100-yard rushing performances to begin his senior season.
After a pair of one-point losses to Clovis West and Yorba Linda put the Chargers in an 0-2 hole, Gillick rushed for 302 yards and four touchdowns in a 29-15 win at Lakewood.
“It’s relief,” Gillick said of the feeling he had in breaking through with a win against the Lancers. “I felt like I was underperforming and not really leading up to my capabilities. I really put a lot on my back for Lakewood, and I’m really proud of my offensive line.”
Gillick has amassed 843 total yards and seven touchdowns through four contests for Edison (2-2).
“My stats are a lot less important than just winning games, and coming out 0-2 was really embarrassing for us,” Gillick said. “I think the bounce back has been very impressive from this team, from [quarterback] Save[lio Niumata] really stepping up in a leadership role, from our offensive line, from our defense.
“The losses that we faced early really humbled us, and I think that’s what we needed as a team was to be humbled — and to realize that we’re not top dogs, and we’ve still got to work for it.”
Gillick’s initial trip to the end zone should have been stopped in the back field, but he broke away from multiple tacklers and put on a burst of speed for a 51-yard touchdown.
“We didn’t block the guy at the point of attack, he was in the back field, and Julius broke a tackle,” Edison coach Jeff Grady said. “It was [third-and-2], so they had us stopped. … He just made a play. He did that last week, too. It seems like he’s done it each week, where we’ve missed some key blocks, and he just made the play. It’s just special.”
Niumata thrived as a dual-threat quarterback, scoring on an option run near the goal line on the opening drive. The returning starter also showed an immediate connection with Jacob Martin, who was inserted back into the lineup after dealing with a hamstring injury in the season opener.
Martin brought in a 33-yard touchdown down the left sideline on his first target, finishing with three catches for 79 yards.
“His energy is on another level,” Niumata said of Martin. “Him being on the field, as great of an athlete as he is, it just makes our team that much better. When he’s out, you notice a little difference, but with him in, it’s one of the best feelings knowing that I have a receiver like that to go to.”
Carson Schmidt also had a 15-yard receiving touchdown with 20 seconds left in the second quarter, sending the Chargers into the locker room with a 27-7 advantage.
Maddox Thomas tacked on a short-yardage rushing touchdown to cap the scoring.
The Edison defense allowed just one scoring drive. The big play was a 55-yard pass from Ryan Rakowski to Joey Koyama. Rakowski ended the drive with an 11-yard passing touchdown to Dominik Hernando.
Palos Verdes, which was coming off a 21-17 win over Corona del Mar, is now 2-2 overall.
Linebackers Jordan Pelaez and Matt Lopez each had a sack for Edison, which plays host to Fountain Valley (1-3) at Orange Coast College on Friday, Sept. 20.
Nonleague
Edison 41, Palos Verdes 7
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Palos Verdes 0 - 7 - 0 - 0 — 7
Edison 14 - 13 - 14 - 0 — 41
FIRST QUARTER
E — Niumata 3 run (kick), 7:21.
E — Martin 33 pass from Niumata (kick), 4:22.
SECOND QUARTER
E — Gillick 51 run (kick), 21-0.
PV — Hernando 11 pass from Rakowski (kick), 3:33.
E — Schmidt 15 pass from Niumata (kick failed), 0:20.
THIRD QUARTER
E — Gillick 3 run (kick), 8:59.
E — Thomas 2 run (kick), 3:10.
FOURTH QUARTER
None.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
PV — Hernando, 8-20.
E — Gillick, 15-215, 2 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
PV — Rakowski, 5-9-0, 78, 1 TD.
E — Niumata, 6-7-0, 110, 2 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
PV — Koyama, 1-55; McGovern, 2-27.
E — Martin, 3-79, 1 TD.
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