MidValleySports.Com

By Tim Peterson

(La Verne) – Edison’s offense did enough and the defense did the rest in a 24-0 shutout of previously unbeaten Bonita Friday night in the second round of the CIF Division 3 playoffs at Bonita High School.

Edison led 17-0 at the half and scored one more time in the third quarter but that was more than enough. The Chargers defense shut down Bonita and kept the Bearcats out of the endzone. Twice Bonita was stopped on fourth down in Edison territory. On their final drive of the night the Bearcats moved the ball all the way down to the Edison 16-yard line but quarterback Travis Lippert was picked off on fourth down.

The Chargers got on the board on their opening possession. Their drive stalled at the Bonita six-yard line where Nico Bammer kicked a 23-yard field goal.

On the next possession Edison marched 69 yards on seven plays. Julius Gillick finished it with a four-yard touchdown run for a 10-0 lead with 3:05 left in the first quarter.

In the second quarter the Chargers used a big play to increase the lead. Sam Thomson found Jake Minter open behind the Bonita secondary for a 30-yard touchdown. The Chargers took the 17-0 lead into the break at halftime.

A good kickoff return set Bonita up at the Edison 39 to open the third quarter but the Bearcats couldn’t take advantage. They were stopped on fourth down at the 35 and gave the ball back to the Chargers.

Edison promptly drove 65 yards on seven plays for another score. Shea Summers hauled in a 16-yard strike from Thomson to make it 24-0 with 6:06 left in the third quarter.

That rounded out the scoring as Edison held off Bonita the rest of the way. The Bearcats best opportunity came mid-way through the fourth quarter when Lippert was intercepted in the red zone.

Joseph Lara ran for 36 yards on 13 carries and Lippert threw for 81 as the Bonita offense never got untracked. For Edison Gillick and Sam Edmisten each ran for 78 yards and Gillick had the touchdown. Gillick didn’t play in the second half after getting banged up but Edmisten picked up right where he left off.

Bonita played the game without Texas A&M commit Noah Mikhail who hurt his foot last week in a win over Cathedral. The loss was the first of the season for the Bearcats as they finish the season at 11-1. Edison improved to 8-4 and moves on to the Division 3 Semi-Finals.