High School Football Player of the Week: Edison’s Nico Brown emerges as a top threat
Nico Brown’s steady progress at wide receiver this year has been a boon to Edison High’s offense, providing greater dimension — and another go-to target — for the passing game in coach Jeff Grady’s balanced attack.
The Chargers, ranked No. 7 in CIF Southern Section Division 3, have benefited offensively from second-year quarterback Braeden Boyles’ and top receiver Cole Koffler’s returns and an effective by-committee rushing game.
Brown, a sophomore who worked his way onto the first team as summer workouts began, has emerged as a top threat, himself. He’s caught a team-best 25 passes for 329 yards and five touchdowns against very strong opposition, and was the standout in last week’s 41-15 Sunset League triumph over struggling Huntington Beach.
Brown returned the opening kickoff 68 yards to set up Mike Walters’ one-yard touchdown for an early lead, restored Edison’s advantage with a 63-yard scoring pass from Boyles, then caught another touchdown throw for 39 yards to stretch the lead, helping the Chargers stay in contention for the league title. Edison (5-3, 2-1 in league) is in a three-way tie for second place with Newport Harbor (7-1, 2-1) and Los Alamitos (3-5, 2-1), who are one game back of Corona del Mar (8-0, 3-0).
Brown caught five passes for 132 yards and offered more than a hint of why he could be Edison’s next star receiver. He’s got great hands, runs great routes and has a connection with Boyles dating to when they were 8- and 9-year-olds in Huntington Beach Pop Warner.
“I just think he has a very natural feel for playing the receiver position,” said Grady, whose team hosts rival Fountain Valley (3-5, 0-3) in the 52nd editon of Battle for the Bell game at Orange Coast College on Friday at 7 p.m. “He has a knack for finding the soft spots and for getting open, and then he makes big plays.”
Brown, also a rising baseball standout for the Chargers, played a “significant” role for Edison’s freshman team last year, Grady says, but he’s been more vital this year. He’s averaging 30 yards on kickoff returns and has joined primary deep options Koffler and junior PJ Campbell as essential targets for Boyles and fellow quarterback Jacob Hanlon.
“[Last year] was a lot quieter than this year, for sure,” Brown said. “The game got a lot faster and quicker [at the varsity level], you can’t take any plays or reps off, and you constantly have to be on the gas. It took a little bit of time to figure it out, but once I started playing, I just got into a rhythm.”
Grady praises Brown’s work ethic — on and off the field and in the classroom — and says his fundamentals as a receiver are superb.
“Route running and getting in and out of breaks [while changing direction on routes], those are two things he does very well,” Grady said. “He takes it serious, works very hard at it, and it’s paying off.”
Brown made an impact in the Chargers’ 24-17 win over San Juan Hills on Sept. 13, making seven catches for 88 yards and a touchdown. He’s good at turning off-target throws into yardage.
“The ball doesn’t have to be perfectly thrown,” Grady said. “It can be outside the frame of his body, and he’s going to find a way to go up and get it. He does a great job of setting people up. He’s got really good footwork, good patience and terrific hands.
“I think speed’s something that will come as he gets older and stronger and continues to mature physically. Right now I think what’s helping him most is just his ability to find a way to get open and use the fundamentals and technique he’s [been working on since spring].”
Grady describes Koffler, who has 23 catches for 505 yards and seven touchdowns, and Campbell, with 18 receptions for 350 yards, as “more vertical-type threats” than Brown, but Brown “definitely has big-play potential.”
The Chargers score five TDs on 11 plays in the second quarter, including three straight on Braeden Boyles passes, to beat the Oilers 41-15 in Friday’s Sunset League game.
He showed it as the Chargers bounced back from a 42-7 lopsided loss to the Sea Kings, ranked No. 1 in Division 3, to dominate Huntington Beach (1-7, 0-3). They broke the game open with five second-quarter touchdowns for a 41-7 halftime lead, after which Grady pulled his starters.
Brown provided the 14-7 advantage at the start of the second quarter, beating the safety one-on-one on a post play for the 63-yard score, then getting behind the secondary on a deep-seam route on the 39-yard touchdown.
“I’ve had games with more receptions,” he said, “but this one I had the ball going forward more and in stride, so that helped a lot, and I’ve got to give it to Braeden. He had two nice balls, and they were both for touchdowns.”
Brown wants to play football or baseball in college — he prefers whichever is in season, he says — and is interested in a few Southern schools, the Pacific-12 Conference and the Ivy League.
“I don’t really know [what his possibilities are] at this point,” Grady said. “I know he’s going to work his butt off, because that’s just who he is. If he can keep up that mentality and that work ethic, I think he can really continue to grow and have a heck of a career here at Edison.
“He’s a good student, a hard-working young man, so you never know [beyond that]. Anything’s possible.”
Nico Brown
Born: Jan. 6, 2003
Hometown: Huntington Beach
Height: 5 feet 11
Weight: 160 pounds
Sport: Football
Year: Sophomore
Coach: Jeff Grady
Favorite food: Sushi
Favorite movie: “Waterboy”
Favorite athletic moment: “I can’t recall one, but just being out on the field with my teammates and friends every single week is pretty exciting and gets my energy rolling.”
Week in review: Brown returned the opening kickoff 68 yards to set up Edison’s first touchdown and caught five passes for 132 yards and touchdowns covering 63 and 39 yards to lead the Chargers in a 41-15 rout at Huntington Beach on Oct. 18.
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