1976. 1991.

And now, 2022.

Senior quarterback Matt Yascko rushed for a career high 168 yards on 18 carries – that weren’t necessarily part of the game plan – and the Edison defense registered seven sacks, as the 6th-seeded Eagles won at top-seed Lenape Friday night, 28-14, to take home the Central Jersey Group 5 title.

It was the Eagles’ first title since 1991, and they are now 3-0 all-time in sectional finals.

Edison, now 9-3 on the season, will take on Toms River North next weekend – on either Saturday or Sunday – in the Group 5 semifinals at Cherokee High School, about a 15-minute drive from where they won Friday night. The top-seeded Mariners are now 12-0 after beating 2nd-seed Kingsway 48-14 for their first title since 2015.

Edison took a 13-0 lead in the game, capitalizing on several Lenape miscues, including a bad snap on one punt, and allowing the Eagles to block another.

The first TD came courtesy of a 13-yard run by Nyekir Eato, with Matt Yascko’s five-yard TD run good for the second score. Tight end Michael Strachan caught a five-yard TD pass after that bad snap by Lenape set the Eagles up with first-and-goal at the five, and Edison took a 20-0 lead into the locker room.

Lenape would make it a game in the third and fourth quarters, capitalizing on some Edison miscues. They got it to 20-14 with just under seven minutes to play, but Yascko would run another score in from 11 yards out to seal the deal with under four minutes to play.

Click below for postgame reaction from Mike Pavlichko with Edison players down on the field after the win: