Tyler Gioia leads shorthanded Edison to emphatic playoff win against Murrieta Valley: 5 takeaways

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – Edison was missing its starting quarterback and top receiver in its playoff opener on Friday, but it didn't miss one beat in playing one of its best games of the season to rout Murrieta Valley 42-14.

In just his second start of the season, QB Tyler Gioia threw touchdown passes to five different receivers and completed 18 of 24 passes for 310 yards, with no turnovers. Here are five takeaways from the game:

EDISON HAS ONE OF THE DEEPEST PASSING GAMES IN SOCAL

No team could've been more well-equipped to handle the absences of both starting QB Parker Awad and reigning Sunset League Player of the Year WR Nico Brown than Edison.

Gioia had an outstanding junior season starting for the Chargers before undergoing knee surgery in April. Awad transferred in shortly thereafter. Following a speedy recovery, Gioia quickly proved able to play at a high level whenever he's gotten reps under center, so the result of the situation is Edison having two of the better passers in the section in its armory.

"Tyler is a competitor," said head coach Jeff Grady. "We're really lucky to have two really good quarterbacks... Tyler stepped up and he was pretty darn good. I don't know what else to say, he was pretty spectacular."

On top of that, Edison legitimately has one of the deepest receiver corps in not just the section, but the whole state. With Brown out, not only did Tucker Tripp and Tyler Hampton continue to shine, but Ty Bandaruk and Mason York had breakout performances, and they're clearly ready to compete against Division 2 adversaries as well. All four of those guys had touchdown catches on Friday, as did RB Troy Fletcher, who is just as much a threat catching the ball at WR or SB as he is running it. If not for a season-ending wrist injury, Ashton Hurley would be around that list too. So when Brown comes back, that's a devastating five-man WR group to deal with, in addition to an outstanding pass-catching RB.

It's a perfect complement for a team with two outstanding QBs.

Additionally, Edison's offensive line has been a plus all season long, even against the Chargers' top opponents. The pass protection was outstanding in this game, as Gioia frequently had an abundance of time and space to work, and he rarely got touched.

TROY FLETCHER KEEPS ADDING ONTO OUTSTANDING SENIOR CAMPAIGN

Fletcher's stock as one of the top all-purpose players in the section has risen practically every week of the season, and he piled onto his list of accomplishments in this one. Murrieta Valley 3-star QB Brandon Rose only had two interceptions on the season coming into this game, but Fletcher picked him off twice in this game alone. The first one was a pick-six on the first drive of the game, which could not possibly have been more momentous, and he picked the Nighthawks off again in the second half to add some icing on the cake. Fletcher also took a short pass to the house and racked up over 100 total yards of offense.

IT WAS OVER WHEN

Edison stretched its lead to 21-7 before the first quarter was over via touchdown catches by Tripp and Bandaruk. By the time the Chargers made it 28-7 with most of the second quarter left to play, this game was over.

CHARGERS' WELL-ROUNDEDNESS CONTINUES TO SET THEM APART

On Friday, Edison played the part of the Division 2 contender it's been projected to be since before the season started, something it's cemented in every week of the team's strong 2021-22 campaign. We've touched on their explosive offense, but Edison also has had one of the best defenses among D2 teams all season, and this effort against a usually-dominant offense left very little to be desired.

"Defensively, I can't say enough good things," said Grady.

"We were honestly scared to death. They're a machine on offense, and we kind of harped that into our guys – and they honed in. The turnovers were huge. We played really good defense, and I'm proud of our guys. We didn't give up any big plays, which [Murrieta Valley is] known for. We were dialed in.

"They're extremely talented. We had a good week in practice, but it was not a fun week to be coaches – they're a nightmare to prepare for."

"Our defense is so good at creating turnovers and getting us the ball back, I love playing with them," said Gioia.

"We talked about their offense all week, we knew it was going to be a battle, and [the defense] rose to the occasion for sure."

END OF AN ERA FOR THE NIGHTHAWKS, BUT THEY STILL GOT HARDWARE

With Brandon Rose's playing days at Murrieta Valley now over, and numerous other seniors on their way out, the Nighthawks are set to deal with a bit of transition. There's way too much talent on the roster to say they need to "rebuild" after losing their 2022 class, but there's a handful of pressing questions yet to be answered on how they'll stay at the level they're at. While the Nighthawks didn't win a CIF title during this era, they did complete a 5-0 sweep of the Southwestern League this season. Anyone who knows Inland Empire and/or Southern Section football knows what an accomplishment that is.

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