Tag: Selbin Sabio

December 14, 2022December 14, 2022 by Mike Pavlichko

Sabio’s clutch kicking earns him CJSR Special Teams Player of the Year honors

On the high school level, finding a reliable kicker is like finding winning the lottery. Some use different guys for kickoffs, field goals and punts.

Edison’s Selbin Sabio can do all of that, which is why he’s the Central Jersey Sports Radio Special Teams Player of the Year for 2022.

And though he was consistent all season – 37-of-40 on PATs and 6-of-8 on field goals – it was what he did in crunch time, specifically in the playoffs, that cemented his legacy in Eagles football lore.

In the Central Jersey Group 5 opening round, he calmly hit a field goal from 38 yards – hardly a gimme in high school – to break a 7-7 tie as time expired on the first half. Those three points turned out to be the game-winning points.

Then, in one of the wildest sequences you’ll ever see, Sabio converted on not one, but two onside kicks to help Edison rally from a 14 point deficit to beat North Brunswick on the road in an epic CJ5 semifinal.

Sabio. Epic. The name will never be forgotten.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko talk with CJSR Special Teams Player of the Year Selbin Sabio:

Honorable Mentions:

Ridge kicker Asgrimur Gudmundsson never missed a PAT in his career, perfect in 36 tries. He was also 7-of-11 on field goals, which sounds much more impressive when you realize his long was 47, and that he never missed a field goal inside of 30 years. His only two misses this season came from outside the 40-yard line, a testament to head coach Andy West’s faith in him.

Brayden Hinman of South Hunterdon also had a fine senior year as a kick returner, with sis special teams scores, including one kick return for a touchdown, and five on punt returns. That’s a school record. Hinman won’t be playing football in college, but he will attend Auburn on a full Army ROTC scholarship.

Antonio Rivera of Piscataway – the recipient of the Bellamy & Son Paving Player of the Week Scholarship – owns the schoold record with five career kick returns for touchdowns. This season, he returned eight punts for 294 yards (36.8 avg.) and three TDs, while returning nine kicks for 247 yards (27.4 avg.) and one score.

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:

Edison QB Matt Yascko

Edison LB/K Selbin Sabio

Edison WR Michael Strachan

November 10, 2022November 11, 2022 by Mike Pavlichko

Sabio brings Edison reliability at one of HS football’s most hit-or-miss positions

There are some high school football teams that “always go for two.”

Kickers can be a difference-maker at any level of football, but nowhere is that more true than in the high school game. The lack of a kicking game can affect offensive play-calling and fourth-and-short situations in no-man’s land.

But that’s not the case for Edison.

Senior Selbin Sabio – a soccer player-turned-football player – has made the kicking game something Eagles’ head coach Matt Fulham can count on, and he’s made a difference all season long, but especially in their last two playoff games.

Locked in a tight 7-7 battle late in the first half of their Central Jersey Group 5 opening round game at third-seed Hillsborough, Sabio kicked a field goal as time expired before halftime that put sixth-seed Edison up 10-7.

Those would be the last points either team would score, as both team’s defenses locked in over the final 24 minutes.

But last week, well, they don’t get much more special than that.

The Eagles were down 31-17 with under four minutes to go, and came back to win 33-31, with Sabio figuring four key plays in all three of Edison’s final scores.

After the first TD, Sabio’s PAT made it 31-24. Edison then recovered Sabio’s onside kick to get the ball back, and score again to pull to within a point at 31-30. After a two-point conversion failed, the Eagles needed the ball back. So they tried another onside kick, and recovered that, too.

But Sabio still wasn’t done. Edison got in field goal range, and the senior put it through the uprights with four seconds to go to secure a 33-31 lead, and eventually the win.

So what makes the kid tick? How did he land on the football team? And how does he work at his craft?

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Edison senior kicker Selbin Sabio:

Edison senior kicker Selbin Sabio (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

November 5, 2022November 5, 2022 by Mike Pavlichko

Edison-North Brunswick lives up to the hype, as Eagles win a wild one to clinch a finals berth for the first time since 1991

It might have been the comeback of the year in the Big Central, and there have been some good ones, including in another sectional semifinal game Friday night in Annandale.

But nothing tops what Edison did in the Central Jersey Group 5 semifinals in North Brunswick.

The 6th-seeded Eagles were down 31-17 with 3:58 left in the game. They scored to make it 31-24 and recovered Selbin Sabio’s onside kick.

Then, like a la Phil Connors in Groundhog Day, the Eagles scored again. Down one, Edison went for the jugular, a two-point conversion to go ahead.

But they didn’t get it.

Why not try another onside kick, down 31-30 with 39-seconds to go?

They did, and recovered again.

What?

Then, aided by two pass interference penalties, Edison got into field goal range, and Sabio booted a clean ball over and through the uprights from 30-yards for the game-winner as time expired, for a 33-31 win.

Now, it’s on the road for Edison, to top-seed Lenape, which got by 5th-seed Atlantic City down in Medford Friday night, 21-20. That game will kick off at 7:00 next Friday night.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Chris Tsakonas break down the final four minutes of the game with Mike Pavlichko as well as postgame reaction from head coach Matt Fulham, quarterback Matt Yascko, and kicker Selbin Sabio:

*Edison QB Matt Yascko after a Central Jersey Group 5 semifinal win at North Brunswick on November 4, 2022. (Photo: Chris Tsakonas)*

November 6, 2021November 6, 2021 by Mike Pavlichko

Edison wins wild one, an OT victory over Manalapan decided by the kickers

In one of a number of upsets on the opening night of the NJSIAA high school football playoffs, 7th-seed Edison knocked off 2nd-seed Manalapan 23-20 in a thrilling overtime win, that came down to who had the better foot.

In this case, it was the Eagles’ Selbin Sabio, who booted a 26-yard field goal in overtime to lift Edison (7-3) to the upset victory over the Braves (6-3).

For Manalapan, junior kicker Michael Calton kicked two field goals in the first half, but missed two key ones later. The first came with 52 seconds remaining in regulation, when he couldn’t convert on a 42-yard attempt, leaving the score tied at 20.

Then, in overtime, after a big defensive stop, the Braves lined up for a 40-yard attempt, which also failed.

Edison – aided by a Manalapan penalty – sent out Sabio to try a 26-yard attempt, which sailed through the uprights.