Matt McKeever – Central Jersey Sports Radio

On the field before Thursday night’s home game against Edison, Summit head coach Kevin Kostibos was asked about his defense, which has bee giving up just over 19 points a game through the first four this year.

His response was that they’ve played well, but big plays had been the difference.

Well, they didn’t give up many against the Eagles, and the ones they did didn’t matter, as they shutout Edison 20-0 at Tatlock Field in the Big Central Game of the Week presented by Bellamy & Son Paving, and heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

In fact, they held Edison to turnovers on downs on the Eagles’ first two possessions, the first of which stopped then on the Hilltopper 15 yard line.

Offensively, Summit did enough to win against an Edison defense that was, in the main, up to the task – if only they could have put some points on the board.

Gavin Schnall rushed 17 times for 100 yard and a six-yard score in the fourth quarter. QB Matt McKeever threw for 115 and a 33-yard touchdown to Will Heil in the first quarter. And Jackson Mark went 2-for-2 on PATs and 2-for-2 on field goals, matching his season high of 37 yards late in the third.

Summit moves to 3-2 with the win ahead of a trip to Watchung Hills next week. Edison drops to 1-4 but has the first of three home games coming up next week as East Brunswick rolls into town.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Chris Tsakonas with Summit QB Matt McKeever, RB Gavin Schnall, head coach Kevin Kostibos and Athletic Director Allison Flockhar, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Governor Livingston 28, Lyndhurst 20

Junior runningback Elijah Garcia ran for two touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass as the Highlanders one back-to-back games for the first time this season, taking a road win at Lyndhurst in Bergen County.

Sophomore QB Colin Hughes also threw a pair of touchdown passes in the win, which gets the Highlanders to 3-2 on the year, heading into a Saturday home game next week against Johnson, the first of three straight home games the next few weeks for Governor Livingston.

The no-huddle offense is tough to defend, and on a mid-September day with temperatures nearing 80, both conspire to make it difficult for a defense to catch it’s breath.

So, when Summit got the ball to start the game after Hillside won the toss and deferred Saturday afternoon at Investors Bank Field at Tatlock Park, the Hilltoppers went right for the jugular.

And halfway through the opening quarter, they had a 14-0 lead.

First, it was a nine-play, 67-yard drive capped by a 16-yard touchdown pass from QB Alex Schwark to Charlie Garvey. And after a three-and-out stop by the defense, a 32-yard strike to Will Holmes.

Matt McKeeevr added a one-yard run midway through the second, and a 30-yard pass to Connor Gawronski made it 27-0, but Hillside answered on the ensuing kickoff when Kamari Robinson fielded it at the eleven and took it 89 yards to the house.

The Comets made some halftime adjustments and put together some good drives in the second half. They got a 26-yard touchdown catch from Travis Miles in the third, and another eight-yard catch from him with 4:19 to go, but McKeever’s second TD run, which came with 1:49 to go in the third and helped keep Hillside at bay.

Kamari Robinson finished with 96 yards on 16 carries. Miles had three catches for 54 yards, two of them going for touchdowns.

Schwark – a converted running back playing QB – ran the offense well. In Summit’s 3-0 start, he’s rushed for over 100 yards in all three. Saturday, he unofficially went for 132 on a workman-like 22 carries, and was 7-of-16 passing for 133 yards and three touchdowns.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: