Tag: Matt Yascko

September 13, 2023 by Mike Pavlichko

Edison looking to cut down on big plays as No. 8 Sayreville visits for Thursday night matchup

A lot has changed for Edison since last November, when the Eagles’ football team won its first state sectional title in over three decades.

Head coach Matt Fulham retired, and offensive coordinator Matt Yascko – a veteran head coach who won two titles himself at Carteret, and that 1991 title in Edison as a player – took over.

Yascko’s son – a four-year starter at quarterback, with his dad as his coordinator for the last three – graduated, along with solid kicker Selbin Sabio and a number of other significant contributors.

That’s meant a bit of a shift in offensive style, with junior Anthony Calantoni taking the reins, a QB who doesn’t nearly run it like the younger Yascko did.

And as the offense comes around, Edison is looking to cut down on big plays that did them in during losses at Bridgewater-Raritan and North Brunswick.

At least the Eagles get to play on their home turf finally, after playing those first three on the road. That’ll happen Thursday night when 8th-ranked Sayreville (2-1) comes to town for a 7:00 game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Pregame is 6:45, and Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel have the call. Click here to listen.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko preview the game with Edison head coach Matt Yascko:

August 31, 2023August 31, 2023 by Mike Pavlichko

Yascko gets first win at alma mater; everyone gets involved as Edison wins 10th straight against arch-rival JP Stevens

Edison had a disappointing opener to 2023 with a 44-12 loss at Bridgewater-Raritan last Friday night.

It may not have been unexpected. While the Eagles are certainly talented, new players are adjusting to leadership roles and positions that had been manned by several three-year starters on last year’s Central Jersey Group 5 championship team. And that might take some time.

But Thursday night, they made sure there wasn’t another disappointment in Game Two.

This Anthony Calantoni @antcal02 27-yard TD pass to Ricky Harvey @ri3kyharvey @ehsgridiron is being considered for the Xceptional Weekly Pinned Post. Repost and Like @CJSportsRadio pic.twitter.com/CxywyUCGjR
— Marcus A. Borden (@bordenfb4ever) September 1, 2023

Edison blew past JP Stevens 57-0 with everyone getting into the act, scoring early and often, as they built a 39-0 lead before halftime, activating the running clock for the second half.

Nyekir Eato rushed for touchdowns of five and six yards. Tori’ahn Rattray had a three-yard touchdown run and brought back the second half kickoff for a score. Aidan Woomer had a one-yard touchdown run and returned two punt blocks for touchdowns, once in the first quarter and again in the third. And Anthony Calantoni threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Harvey for the third score of the game.

Edison’s game MVP, Justin Reid, also recovered two fumbles on defense.

The Eagles improved to 1-1 with the win, the first for new head coach Matt Yascko at his alma mater, after three years as offensive coordinator. That followed 14 years leading Carteret, where he was 82-67 with two state championships and three finals berths.

JP Stevens fell to 0-2 with the loss, and has lost 33 straight dating back to 2018, the second-longest active losing streak in New Jersey behind Highland Park, which sits at 42, and opens the 2023 season at Tenafly Friday night.

Click below for postgame interviews by Marcus Borden with Edison head coach Matt Yascko and game MVP Justin Reid:

August 20, 2023August 19, 2023 by Mike Pavlichko

Edison took graduation hit, but plenty of talent remains on O-line, D-line and at skill positions

Edison had a historic season in 2022, winning the Central Jersey Group 5 championship, its first sectional title in 31 years.

So, what do you do for an encore?

Repeating will be difficult, with the number of key players lost to graduation. It won’t be easy to replace the nearly 1,900 passing yards and 14 touchdowns from the arm of Matt Yascko, or the more than 1,100 receiving yards and ten touchdowns from Malcom Stansbury and Michael Strachan.

But the cupboard is far from bare for Matt Yascko, the quarterback’s father, who is an Edison alum, and spent the last three seasons as Offensive Coordinator, coaching his son, after coming over from Carteret, where he had a lengthy run and won multiple championships.

The Eagles bring back junior Nyekir Eato and the nearly 1,300 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns he piled up in his sophomore season. Senior wideout Ricky Harvey and his 387 receiving yards and four touchdowns are no small potatoes either.

That’ll be a plus, as will two of the standouts who came to Big Central Media Days last week: Sebastian Vera and Justin Reid, both two-way linemen who will become third-year starters in 2023.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk Edison football at Big Central Media Days with head coach Matt Yascko, and seniors Sebastian Rivera and Justin Reid.

March 21, 2023 by Mike Pavlichko

Welcome back, again: Yascko takes the reins at alma mater Edison after three seasons as OC

The Edison High School football team has a new head coach who is anything but new to the program.

After spending three seasons as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator, working with a unit that featured his son as the quarterback, Matt Yascko has been elevated to head coach.

No surprise, if we’re being brutally honest.

The Edison Board of Education Tuesday night approved the appointment of Yascko to the post, where he takes over for Matt Fulham, who retired in January after 20 seasons at the helm. He left with an 80-100-1 record, and handing off a program that has made the playoffs four straight postseasons dating back to 2018, capped off with a Central Jersey Group 5 championship, the school’s first sectional title in 31 years, this past fall.

With the senior Yascko heading the offense, and the younger Yascko in charge of it on the field, the combo went 20-10 over the past three seasons.

*Edison’s Matt Yascko (the QB/son, left) and Matt Yascko (the offensive coordinator/father, right) helped lead Edison to its first sectional title since 1991. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)*

The hiring is a natural fit for the Eagles, whose staff has many local ties to the community. Yascko is an Edison alum, and was on the 1991 championship team in his junior season, so the move keeps the position in the family, while also promoting from within, allowing for a sense of continuity with a “new” head coach.

Of course, Yascko has significant chops as a head coach. Following a run as an assistant under Bob Molarz at Carteret, Yascko took the reins of the Ramblers for 14 seasons, going 82-67 and reaching three state finals, winning titles in 2007 and 2012.

But he left in July of 2020 – coincidentally around the time Carteret dropped fall sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic – in order to spend more time around his son. In 2019, the younger Yascko was as a freshman for Edison, and got called upon to start the last six games of the year when Lucas Loffredo went down to injury, then moved and transferred out of the district.

That summer, when the offensive coordinator position opened up, Fulham offered Yascko the job, and the rest was history.

Yascko is the tenth head coach in Edison history, but only the second alum to lead the program. Mike Wojick is the other, and he was Yascko’s head coach when the team won the 1991 Central Jersey Group 4 crown.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Matt Yascko about being named Edison’s new head football coach. Scroll further down for additional comments about Yascko’s hiring.

Reaction from Edison:

Edison Athletic Director David Sandaal: “I couldn’t be happier. Matt has been a winner all of his life. As a player, he was a junior on the 1991 Central Jersey Group 4 sectional championship team, won two sectional crowns as the Head Coach for Carteret, and was the offensive coordinator this past fall for our 2022 state sectional championship team.”

Edison Wide Receivers Coach Brian Calantoni: “This day is a culmination of what we all worked for, for many years. We have the best coach and the best coaching staff in the state. We have six alumni on the staff. Coach Yascko is the epitome of Edison High School football, all about the team the town and the school. He’s humble, and he’s a hard worker and his teams are the same. Today is one of the best days in Edison High School football history.”

December 27, 2022 by Mike Pavlichko

What were the Top Ten stories of 2022 on Central Jersey Sports Radio? Here’s a look at the first five:

End-of-the-year lists are always popular, so we figured what better time to look at the most-read stories on Central Jersey Sports Radio this past year, one in which we had – yet again – a record number of visitors to the site? So, we compiled the top ten feature and game stories of the past year, and present them to you now.

We start today with stories 10 through 6, and will have the top five later this week.

Click on each headline for the complete, original story.

10. Yascko, Edison defense help knock off top-seed Lenape, bring home trophy for first time in 31 years

*Edison’s Matt Yascko – shown here as a freshman against South Plainfield on October 18, 2019 – helped lead the Eagles to their first title since 1991. (Photo submitted by coach Matt Yascko)*

It had been a long time coming, but Edison finally got its championship. With a group that had several key four-year starters, the Eagles brought home the big one. But they’d have to travel through wind and rain to do it.

With the remnants of Hurricane Nicole buffeting the state, Edison and some of the Eagles’ heartiest fans had to make the hour-plus-long trek down to to-seed Lenape in Medford, NJ (Burlington County) to see their beloved team. But it paid off, as they won the Central Jersey Group 5 championship, their first since the CJ4 trophy they won in 1991.

FULL GAME AUDIO: Central Jersey Group 5 Final: (6) Edison 28, (1) Lenape 14

9. Sayreville looking for more of the Wright stuff

*Zaimer Wright (left) with his Bellamy & Son Player of the Week Award from Week 3, poses alongside head coach Chris Beagan. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)*

Zaimer Wright was just a sophomore in 2021, but with him leading the way on the ground, Sayreville had its best season since they won the Central Jersey Group 5 title in 2018. His 1,403 yards and 25 touchdowns made him the to returning runningback in the Big Central Conference in 2022.

Injuries, however – both to Wright and others – slowed the Bombers a bit in 2022. They finished 4-5 as Wright only managed to play in seven of the team’s nine games and rushed for 644 yards and three touchdowns on 103 carries, fewer than half as many touches as he had in 2021.

Should he be healthy in 2023, expect more big things from Wright and the Bombers in his senior season.

8. Edison, Lenape to face off for Central Jersey Group 5 title tonight in Medford

*Edison coach Matt Fulham talks to his team after a 42-23 win at St. Joseph-Metuchen on October 7, 2022. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)*

Excitement was at a fever pitch for Edison fans heading into the Central Jersey Group 5 title game. Not only had it been a long time since they’d won a title – 31 years, to be exact – they had not been to a final since they last won it in 1991.

And with Eagles’ fans not knowing much about Lenape other than they were a top seed in the section despite a middling record of 4-4 at the cutoff, our interviews with Edison head coach Matt Fulham and Indians’ head coach Joe Wojceichowski drew a great number of fans to check it out.

It probably didn’t hurt that Lenape fans didn’t know much about Edison either.

7. Entire Edison community mourns the loss of much-beloved youth sports leader “Mr. G”

*The man Edison children knew for years as “Mr G.”*

People in Edison love their school sports, as you’ll notice from this bottom five of our Top Ten list. But they also loved “Mr. G.”

Beloved youth sports mentor William Giampolo passed away in January of 2022, and the news affected everyone who’d ever played rec baseball or football dating all the way back to the 1970s. He led the Edison Boys’ Baseball League from 1973 to 1998, and was instrumental in the Edison Youth Sports Council.

We talked with Edison Boys’ Baseball League President Brian Calantoni for his memories of Mr. G for this story, which also includes a photo gallery.

6. Yascko & Yascko: How the father-son QB-OC tandem united to help bring Edison its first title in 31 years

Edison’s Matt Yascko (the QB/son, left) and Matt Yascko (the offensive coordinator/father, right) have helped lead Edison to its first sectional title since 1991. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

One more Edison story today, and this one’s a keeper. (Hey, we can’t help it if Eagles fans turn out on CJSR!)

Matt Yascko was a freshman in 2019 when the Eagles’ starter went down to injury, and he was elevated to starting quarterback for the final six games of the season. But before head coach Matt Fulham made the call, he made a call: to Yascko’s father, Matt, then the head coach at Carteret. Yascko, the dad, had played at Edison and was on the 1991 team that was the last one – until this year – to win a sectional championship for the Eagles.

With his blessing (though he might have done it anyway) Yascko, the son, became the starter.

And the next year, despite uncertainty about the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Yascko the dad joined Fulham’s staff at his alma mater as offensive coordinator, bringing father and son together for what would be an immensely successful three-year run: a record of 20-10 over that span, culminating with the Central Jersey Group 5 title this past season.

Check back later this week for the remaining five stories in our Top Ten of 2022 on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

December 20, 2022December 20, 2022 by Mike Pavlichko

Four Big Central standouts honored as New Jersey “Mini Max” award winners by Maxwell Football Club

The Maxwell Football Club – which annually honors its pick for the top player in college football with the Maxwell Award, the top defensive player with the Bednarik Award, and others – named 55 “Mini Max” award winners in the state of New Jersey Monday, and four student-athletes from the Big Central Conference made the list.

Matt Yascko of Edison, Steven McCaffery of Johnson, Gavin Guidette of Montgomery and Jack Donahue of New Providence – all seniors – were the honorees from the BCC.

Yascko set all kinds of passing records for the Eagles, a four-year starter who lead the team to its first sectional championship since 1991 last month when they beat Lenape for the Central Jersey Group 5 title. He set the single-season and career passing yardage records, with an even 1,900 yards this season and 5,796 overall. He also owns both touchdown records, with 16 this year and 45 for his career,

McCaffery was a lineman for the Crusaders who, in his first year as a starter on the D-line, registered 66 tackles, two sacks, a fumble recovery, an interception, and a blocked kick this year.

Guidette was a two-way player for the Cougars who rushed for 311 yards and five touchdowns this season. On defense, he registered 72 tackles and 11 for loss from his middle linebacker spot. He also had a safety, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.

Donahue was a two-way lineman for the Pioneers. He spent more of his time on the offensive line; on defense this year, he logged seven tackles, three for a loss.

December 14, 2022December 14, 2022 by Mike Pavlichko

Edison’s Matt Yascko did it better and longer than anyone, earns CJSR’s “Longevity Award”

What can be said about Edison’s Matt Yascko that hasn’t already been said?

From taking over at quarterback just a few games into his freshman season after an injury to the Eagles’ starter, to winning Edison’s first sectional title in 31 years with a victory at Lenape in this year’s Central Jersey Group 5 title game, and everything in between, the kid has just about done it all.

And for three of those years had the unique experience of being coached by his father, Matt, a former standout for Edison as well, in the early ’90s, winning that 1991 championship.

*Edison’s Matt Yascko as a freshman against South Plainfield on October 18, 2019, his first win as a varsity quarterback. (Photo submitted by coach Matt Yascko)*

His credentials are impeccable:

Second all-time at Edison in career rushing touchdowns, with 21
Fourth all-time in rushing yards, with 1,458
Set the Edison single-season passing record this year, with 1,900 even
Holds the career passing record, with 5,796 yards
Holds the career passing touchdown record, with 45
Tied for the single-season TD pass record, with 16
Led the team to the playoffs all three years they were held (none in 2020 due to COVID)
3.8 GPA

What else can you say?

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Edison’s Matt Yascko:

Honorable Mentions:

Frankie Garbolino of North Brunswick, who won the “Leadership Award,” owns the top three passing seasons of all-time: 1,855 last season, 1,838 this year, and 1,701 in a short eight-game season in 2020. He broke nearly every record he could have in school history, among them career passing yards (5,410) and career passing touchdowns (53).

Jayden Young of St. Thomas Aquinas also had a fantastic career, racking up 25 wins in 3 seasons, and going 18-3 the last two years, with just one regular season defeat. He’s also won 17 straight against Big Central Conference opponents, a record his team will take into next season., In his career, he threw for 5,013 yards and 54 touchdowns, finishing with a 62-percent career pass completion mark.

Delaware Valley’s Jack Bill has been the MVP of the team the past three years. The quarterback went 19-7 as a starter, amassing 5,163 total yards, and 58 touchdowns, while also contributing as a kicker on special teams, where he converted 85 extra points and eight field goals in his time with the Terriers.

Hunter Seubert of Watchung Hills accomplished the rare feat of being a two-way starter on the offensive and defensive lines for the entirety of his high school career, all four years. “He was the QB of our front,” says his dad, the head coach, a one-time New York Giant and Super Bowl champion. A captain the last two seasons, Seubert also has a 3.8 GPA in the classroom.

November 19, 2022November 19, 2022 by Mike Pavlichko

Edison’s championship season comes to an end against Toms River North

Coming off its first sectional title in over three decades, Edison had earned a date with the top public school in the state, Toms River North.

And on Saturday evening down at Cherokee High School, just 15 minutes from last Friday’s great night of hundred-yard glory, they met the same fate as every other team to play Toms River North this season, and very likely they next one, too.

The Eagles’ postseason run came to an end just one game shy of New Jersey’s first-ever public school state finals, losing 42-14 to the Mariners in the Group 4 semifinals.

And as it has been week in and week out for TRN, it was all about Micah Ford. The junior quarterback – who has offers from West Virginia and Maryland – rushed for 289 yards and five touchdowns, while the Mariners rolled off 420 yards of rushing offense.

Down 35-0 in the third quarter, Edison got two touchdowns back, with a Matt Yascko connection to Michael Strachan for 32 yards late in the period, and a Yascko one-yard run early in the fourth after the Eagles recovered an on-side kick, but that was as close as they would get, with Ford’s fifth touchdown of the game providing the final margin.

Click the play button above to hear Edison Councilman Richard Brescher congratulate the Eagles on their Central Jersey Group 5 championship, and wish them luck this week against Toms River North!

Toms River North (13-0) will go on to play the winner of the North 5 semifinal between West Orange and Passaic Tech, which takes place Sunday at 2:30 pm at Franklin High School. Edison finishes its season 9-4, but with the Central Jersey Group 5 title in its trophy case, the school’s third.

Click below for postgame reaction from down on the field with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Chris Tsakonas:

Edison senior QB Matt Yascko

Edison head coach Matt Fulham

November 16, 2022November 17, 2022 by Mike Pavlichko

Yascko & Yascko: How the father-son QB-OC tandem united to help bring Edison its first title in 31 years

The Edison Eagles have won three state sectional championships in football.

Two of them have involved Yasckos.

There’s the Matt Yascko who was on the ’91 championship team, later played on Monmouth Universty’s first-ever football team, and then coached Carteret to titles in 2007 and 2012, and now is Edison’s Offensive Coordinator.

Then there’s the Matt Yacsko who brought Edison its first title since that 1991 championship year, here in 2022. The one who loves to run the football as much as he loves to throw it, the one who a true team leader, in word and deed.

Yes, it’s a family affair in Edison. Has been for a long time now.

Even Yascko’s backup, Anthony Calantoni, is in the family mix. His dad was on the ’91 team and was the starting QB in 1992, the senior Yascko’s senior season.

But the story of how Matt – the son – became the starting QB three years ago, and how his father became his offensive coach is a long and circuitous one. It goes back to 2019, when Eagles’ starter Lucas Loffredo got injured, and Yascko – a freshman – was pressed into action.

After a few games of trial by fire – and a couple of wins – the two joined forces on the Boulevard of the Eagles, gutting out two solid years, with their third finally bringing a championship.

And, of course, there’s still more to play, with the Eagles taking on South Jersey Group 5 champion Toms River North Saturday at Cherokee High School in Medford at 5:30 pm, with the winner moving on to the state’s first ever public group finals, to be held at Rutgers University’s SHI Stadium in Piscataway during the first weekend of December.

Click below to hear Central Jersey’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Edison’s Matt Yascko (the QB) and Matt Yascko (the offensive coordinator) – the father and son duo that has helped bring the Eagles to the brink of New Jersey’s first ever football state finals:

November 11, 2022 by Mike Pavlichko

Yascko, Edison defense help knock off top-seed Lenape, bring home trophy for first time in 31 years

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: