Battle at the Beach – Central Jersey Sports Radio

Hillsborough football coach Kevin Carty, Jr., knew he and his staff had some figuring out to do after losing some key seniors, including quarterback Ryan Seamon, and runningback Jackson Jankowicz, who led the team in rushing and receiving yards in 2024, setting a number of records along the way.

There might still be some figuring out to do after the Raiders dropped their opener, 43-12, to Washington Twp., down at the Battle of the Beach Friday at Rowan University in Glassboro.

The Raiders fell behind 14-0 after one quarter on a 25-yard touchdown run by Washington Twp. senior QB Cole Aquino, who also threw a 56-yard TD pass to Elliott Seibert, but Zion Grant’s two-yard run for Boro got them to within 14-6.

But the Minutemen reeled off the next 29 points of the game, with three more touchdowns before halftime to take a 34-6 lead, then a safety and a TD run in the third to take a 43-6 lead into the fourth. Hameed Kamara caught a 26-yard touchdown pass in the final stanza – with the running clock in play – to close out the scoring.

Washington Twp. was a solid first-game opponent for Hillsborough, coming off a 10-3 season and a Central Jersey Group 5 championship. They fell in the group semis to the behemoth that is Toms River North, which won Group 5.

The Raiders will be back in action next Friday night when they visit Union (0-1) in Week One.

Click below to watch Marcus Borden’s interviews with postgame reaction from Washington Township’s Battle at the Beach win over Hillsborough:

Edison and Cedar Creek were locked in a tight football game until late in the third quarter Sunday evening at Carey Stadium in Ocean City, having played to an even 14-14 score going into the locker room for halftime.

But the veteran Eagles eventually wore down the young Pirates with a sound run game and key defensive plays. Trailing 21-14 in the third, Edison scored the next four touchdowns and 28 points to take a 42-21 lead that they would hold until the final horn.

The win came in the finale of this weekend’s West Jersey Football League Coaches’ Association “Battle at the Beach” played at Ocean City High School.

Selbin Sabio and Adekunle Shittu unsurprisingly made key plays on defense, while QB Matt Yascko – with three-and-a-half years as a starter under his belt – expertly led a fast-paced offense that was able to slow things down late, playing ball control offense, eating the clock, and putting up insurance points to boot.

Yascko was named the game’s MVP, with four touchdown runs and a touchdown pass in the game.

Edison now has won seven of its last eight season-openers, the only loss coming in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.

The victory also snapped a 15-game winning streak for Cedar Creek, which went 13-0 last year to win the South Jersey Group 3 regional title, but lost a significant part of that championship team to graduation, including three all-state players.

Click below for postgame reaction on Edison’s season-opening win over Cedar Creek in Ocean City: