Edison falls in Group 5 football semifinals

EVESHAM – After Toms River North scored a quick touchdown in Saturday’s Group 5 semifinal, Edison coach Matt Fulham had a message for his players as they ran off.

“Don’t worry about it,” he yelled. “Shake it off. You got to be relentless. You got to be relentless.”

Edison did quickly regroup and kept coming. In the end, though, Toms River North showed why they’re one of the state’s best teams with a complete effort en route to a 42-14 win at host Cherokee High School.

The Mariners advance to the Group 5 championship against the winner of Sunday’s semifinal of Passaic Tech/West Orange on either Dec. 3 or 4 at Rutgers University's SHI Stadium. This is the first season that NJSIAA is crowning an overall Group champion.

Both teams are ranked in the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey Top 25 – TRN at No. 6 and Edison at No. 25.

Edison (9-4) faced a juggernaut Toms River North (13-0) team that entered outscoring opponents by a combined 590-94 and is the highest scoring team in Shore Conference history. In fact, the Mariners haven’t been in a competitive game entering the fourth quarter since Week 1.

Explosive junior quarterback Micah Ford had over 3,000 combined yards (1,957 rushing yards and 28 TDs and 1,061 passing yards and 13 TDs).

Saturday night, Ford and the Mariners’ prowess was on display from the beginning. Toms River North scored just over three minutes into the game and led 28-0 at halftime.

Ford rushed for five touchdowns and threw a 15-yard score to Tareq Council. He finished with 285 rushing yards on 28 carries behind a big line.

Edison scored on a 32-yard pass from Matt Yascko Jr. to Michael Strachan with 2:45 left in the third quarter. The Eagles recovered the onside kick and scored on Yascko’s 1-yard run early in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 35-14.

The game got chippy in the second half with a handful of penalties and each team having a player ejected following an altercation.

What does it mean

While Edison fell short in the semifinals, it was a historic season for the South Side team. The Eagles captured their third sectional title in program history joining the 1976 and 1991 teams.

Edison provided several warm moments for its fans that will fondly be talked about at reunions such as the 33-31 comeback win over North Brunswick in the Central Group 5 semifinals.

Key plays

Edison likely needed to play a near-perfect game and catch some breaks along the way. The Eagles did move the ball early, but couldn’t find that sustained momentum. After Toms River North’s opening touchdown, Edison picked up a first down with a Nyekir Eato 6-yard run and a 4-yard run from Yascko to its own 36-yard.

The Eagles faced a fourth-and-one on the 45. Eato’s carry full just short as a wall of Mariners charged forward.

Toms River North scored on a 45-yard drive capped by Ford’s 4-yard run with 1:19 left in the first quarter to make it 14-0.

An Edison touchdown on its ensuing drive would have been key to keep the game from turning into a rout. The Eagles started on their own 37. Yascko connected with Malcolm Stansbury for a 17-yard gain and later on a 22-yard pass on a third-and-10 from TRN’s 33-yard line.

Yascko’s pass was tipped and Toms River North’s 6-foot-7, 300-pounder Ja’Elyne Matthews snagged the ball for the interception and to kill Edison’s best chance of scoring in the first half.

They said it

Yascko on the team’s season, “We had a great season. We accomplished something that hadn’t been accomplished since ’91 at Edison. So although tonight wasn’t great, we had a great ride. … I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It was fun. We won three really tough games against three really good teams. We came out tonight – that’s a pretty good football team over there. … It was a great experience with my friends and my teammates that I grew up with. Like I said, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Yascko on what made the team so good, “I’d say the chemistry we had. We’ve been playing with each other since we were 7 years old. Started in Edison Jets Pop Warner and growing up and then we got to high school and a couple of us started as freshmen and sophomores. So the experience that we all had together and under the lights on Friday nights really came together our senior year and that was why we were able to put it together.”

Yascko on Toms River North, “Big, strong, fast. They’re the number three team in the state and they sure do look like it. We didn’t quit because what do you have to lose? At the end of the day, they came out and they executed better than we did. And 42-14, obviously not what we wanted, but that’s what happened.”

Fulham on what he’ll remember from the season, “We’re sectional champs. It’s awesome. It really is. It’s an awesome feeling. Our kids deserve it. Our coaches deserve it. Our community deserves it. It really was a memorable season.”

Fulham said, “The kids kept fighting hard. It’s an emotional game. Our kids were invested in it and unfortunately tonight we didn’t execute good enough against a really good football team.”

Fulham on the team scoring twice in the second half, “It’s something that our coaching staff preaches all the time. We never want to give up. We never want to quit. We want to play 48 minutes of football. So, we were just trying to do what we preach all the time and preach to the kids.”

Fulham on Toms River North, “They’re a very good football team. By far, the best team we’ve played all year. They’re very physical and very athletic and very well-coached and those kids, they did their jobs. So we had to do our jobs better and there were some times where we didn’t. … Our coaching staff does a great job and I’m really proud of our kids. We played right up until the end even though the score got out of hand at the end.”

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Big Central Conference NJ football: Edison Group 5 semifinal