Marisa Rose Bowl: Edison star forgoes prestigious invite to play once more for his dad

The offer was flattering.

An invitation to put his talents to the test against New Jersey’s best senior high school football players appealed to Matt Yascko.

But the star Edison quarterback, who earned second-team All-State honors from USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey, had plenty of reasons to say no.

For one, there was the desire to play with seven teammates who helped him lead the Eagles to the school’s most successful season in more than three decades.

Then, there was the chance to play one more time for his dad.

In the end, Middlesex County’s premier passer respectfully declined the invitation to play in the prestigious Phil Simms North-South All-Star Football Classic and embraced with open arms the offer to play in a game that was closer to his heart.

"I was offered to play in the North-South game," Yascko said. “However, I decided that the Marisa Rose Bowl was something that I wanted to play in since I was young. And to have the chance to have my dad coaching me again, and to play with my teammates against guys I know, in front of the people I know, for one last time before I leave for college — that’s something I really wanted to do.’’

In March, Yascko accepted the invitation to play in New Jersey’s most successful charity all-star football game, rebranded last year as the Bellamy and Sons Paving Marisa Rose Bowl. He has no regrets even though he concedes his father isn’t about to take it easy on him when preparation for the game’s second installment begins this week.

“It gives me one last chance to yell at him a little bit on the sidelines," Edison head coach Matt Yascko quipped.

The senior Yascko, who was elevated to Edison’s head-coaching post in March following a three-year stint as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator and after a successful 14-year run leading Carteret, will be among the coaches leading Team Marisa against Team Rose in the all-star football game that matches up Middlesex County’s top graduating high school seniors.

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Kickoff at Woodbridge High School’s Nicholas A. Priscoe Stadium is set for June 29 at 7 p.m. All proceeds from the contest will benefit The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, whose mission is to assist pediatric patients and other children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area.

The foundation was established in loving memory of Marisa Rose Tufaro, the daughter of longtime Edison Public Schools educator Cyndi Tufaro and former Home News Tribune and Courier News sports writer Greg Tufaro, who as a reporter was an integral part of the all-star game since its inception nearly three decades ago.

The Marisa Tufaro Foundation will be donating a share of proceeds from this year’s game to PSE&G Children’s Specialized Hospital of New Brunswick and the Edison-based Lakeview School, a program of the New Jersey Institute for Disabilities.

Lakeview School and Children’s Specialized Hospital were the initial beneficiaries of the all-star game, which since 1994 has raised $736,000 for charity. The contest was formerly known as the Snapple Bowl and Autoland Classic.

“I coached the Snapple Bowl for five years back when I was a young assistant and honestly the only reason I stopped doing it was because Matt got to the age where he was playing summer travel baseball so I couldn’t commit the time," said Yascko, who has been coaching Matt in baseball, football and basketball since his son was 4 years old.

“I always enjoyed it. It was a great event and always for a good cause. So the chance to come back to it, especially when my son is playing, is extra special."

When Yascko last coached his son on the field, it was as Edison’s offensive coordinator in an NJSIAA Group 5 semifinal loss to undefeated Toms River North on Nov. 19, 2022. But that defeat hardly spoiled what proved to be the most successful season for Edison in more than 30 years.

With Yascko serving as the squad’s quarterback for a fourth season, the Eagles captured their third sectional title last fall and first since 1991. The elder Yascko played wide receiver on that 1991 championship team.

“Ultimately the No. 1 thing about Matt is he was the ultimate competitor and he’ll always be a team-first guy," said Yascko, whose offense averaged 28 points-per-game. “The stats were there but it was never about that, never about touchdown passes or touchdown runs. It was all about wins."

Oh, the stats for Matt Yascko were there indeed. The 5-foot-10, 188-pound signal caller ranked second among all quarterbacks in the Big Central Conference and first among Middlesex County passers with 1,893 yards last fall.

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Selected as the MyCentralJersey.com Big Central Conference Offensive Football Player of the Year, Yascko completed 58.9 percent of his 258 passing attempts while throwing 16 touchdowns and just four interceptions.

The fleet-footed quarterback, who also was a three-year varsity performer for the Eagles baseball team, rushed for 572 yards and 11 touchdowns while powering Edison to a 7-3 record against Big Central competition. Under longtime head coach Matt Fulham, the Eagles finished with a 9-4 overall record.

For his career, Yascko tallied 5,796 passing yards, 1,458 rushing yards and 66 total touchdowns while leading Edison to 24 wins and playoff appearances in all three years in which the Eagles were eligible.

Yascko, who will play football at Fairleigh Dickinson University this fall, is expected to split quarterback duties for Team Marisa with Brady Cavallaro, an Old Bridge High School product who was the Big Central Conference’s seventh most prolific passer with 1,553 yards on 117-for-213 passing and 17 touchdowns last fall.

“It’s pretty cool that I get the chance to play one last time for my dad," Yascko said. “He’s been coaching me in everything I’ve done since I was 4 years old, and it’s also a great chance to play with some of my teammates who I’ve been playing with since I was a kid, too."

There certainly will be plenty of familiar faces to greet him when he arrives for practice sessions beginning Friday at Priscoe Stadium.

With eight recently graduated players filling Team Marisa’s 44-player roster, Edison has the most players of any school in the all-star game.

Yascko joins wide receivers/defensive backs Jon Baio and Michael Strachan, running back/defensive back Jameel Parrott, offensive linemen/defensive linemen Israel Rodriguez and Adekunle Shittu, and kicker/linebacker Selbin Sabio as the Edison players wearing purple jerseys for the intra-county contest.

The game's namesake, Marisa Rose Tufaro, survived six open-heart surgeries and a heart transplant before succumbing to a rare form of cancer in 2017 following a valiant battle. She was just 13 years old.

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Marisa, who would have graduated in 2021 from Edison High School, was an honor roll student involved in myriad extracurricular activities who lived a vibrant life that inspired.

“Obviously it’s an extra special thing to give back to a charity like this," said Yascko, an Edison High School product whose wife, Christy, was an Eagles cheerleader and whose daughter, Lindsay, is a current Eagles cheerleader.

He recalls talking with the game’s founder and executive director Marcus Borden about potentially coaching if his son opted to play in the Marisa Rose Bowl. Once his son declined the North-South invite, Yascko knew his calendar would be booked for late June.

“I didn’t try to talk Matt out of it, but we did have a discussion and I told him he could play wherever he wanted and nobody will doubt your decision but you’ll have a chance to play with your friends one more time and I think that was a big part of it," Yascko said.

"I did tell him I would coach the game and nobody knows his game as well as I do and thankfully he’s playing for me. So I think this will be good. Because obviously we’re competitors and we want to win, and the ultimate goal is to win any game that you’re competing in.

"But just to be able to have some fun in a less-intense game than the state championship game, we can have some fun while trying to win a game for a great cause.'"

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ football: Edison star Matt Yascko to play once more for his dad