Edison, looking to continue improvement after first win, draw tough defensive task Friday when Franklin visits Boulevard of the Eagles

The Edison football team was very much in its first three games of the season.

In the opener against Piscataway, the Eagles had a 14-10 third quarter lead. They trailed Old Bridge the next week at the half by eight. And they led Sayreville 14-13 coming out of the locker room for the second half.

They managed to lose all three games, but finally got in the win column last week against North Brunswick, a 20-14 win in which the offense gained 318 yards, its best offensive output of the season, both in yardage and points.

The next step is to wash, rinse, repeat – minus any mistakes – when Franklin (2-2) visits Edison (-13) Friday night in the “Big Central Game of the Week” presented by Bellamy & Son Paving. Kickoff is at 7 pm, with Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe on the call. Click here to listen.

The biggest challenge for Edison will be bottling up a Warrior attack that, while they lost to then No. 4 St. Thomas Aquinas last week, 57-45, put up the most points against the Trojans in any regular season game going back to the dawn of Big Central play in 2020.

Eagles’ head coach Matt Yascko has seen the film. He says Franklin just kept making big play after big play.

It was thrilling to watch, but it won’t be if his team doesn’t stick to the game plan this Friday. Defensively, Edison can make plays. Junior linebacker Shaun Garland already has a couple of sacks, while defensive linemen Zion Pearson and Robert Roma each have one. The Eagles also have one pick, have forced four fumbles, and recovered two.

Meanwhile, Ryan Toth has taken over at quarterback. The former Metuchen QB moved to Edison in the off-season, trading blue-and-white for red-and-gold. He’s thrown for 425 yards and three touchdowns, while three different backs are over the hundred-yard mark on offense, giving Yascko and the Eagles options on the ground, while Garland and Roma have eight catches apiece, and Daren Tirado has five.

The Eagles have some weapons, they’ll just have to avoid getting into a shootout if they want to get a win in a potential toss-up game they may need to have to get back into the playoff picture in the South 5 supersection at the midway point of the season.

Click below to hear Edison head coach Matt Yascko talk about the Eagles and Friday’s game against Franklin with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko: