Preview: St. Thomas Aquinas Trojans vs. Edison Eagles
St. Thomas Aquinas is 1-0 against Edison since October of 2022, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The St. Thomas Aquinas Trojans will head out on the road to face off against the Edison Eagles at 7:00 p.m. St. Thomas Aquinas is currently enjoying a perfect season and no doubt want to keep things rolling.
Last Friday, St. Thomas Aquinas got themselves on the board against North Plainfield, but North Plainfield never followed suit. They blew past the Canucks 49-0 at home. The result was nothing new for St. Thomas Aquinas, who have now won seven contests by 24 points or more so far this season.
St. Thomas Aquinas can attribute much of their success to Elijah Abass-shereef, who rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown on only six carries, and Chase Young, who rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns on only ten carries. Abass-shereef was no stranger to the big play, turning on the jets for a run that went for 60 yards.
Meanwhile, Edison's 9-4 record from last season is now well into the rear view mirror after another tough outing. They fell just short of South Brunswick by a score of 30-27. Edison has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Despite their loss, Edison saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Shaun Garland, who rushed for 58 yards and a touchdown, and also picked up 76 receiving yards, was perhaps the best of all. The team also got some help courtesy of Anthony Calantoni, who threw for 182 yards and two touchdowns.
St. Thomas Aquinas' victory was their tenth straight at home (dating back to last season), bumping their overall record up to 8-0. They've been dominating across those matchups too: they took their wins by an average of 32 points. As for Edison, their loss dropped their record down to 3-5.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday' matchup: St. Thomas Aquinas has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 358.8 total yards per game. It's a different story for Edison, though, as they've been averaging only 233.9 per game. Will St. Thomas Aquinas be able to march up the field at their leisure again, or will Edison flip the ?
St. Thomas Aquinas didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Edison in their previous meeting back in October of 2022, but they still walked away with a 21-17 victory. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Edison's Mathew Yascko, who threw for 255 yards while completing 76.7% of his passes, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be that much easier for St. Thomas Aquinas to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
