School: Upper Dublin
FOOTBALL, TRACK
Favorite athlete: LeBron James
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: “Scoring my first touchdown in little leagues.”
Most embarrassing/funniest moment competing in sports: “I air-balled a layup over the backboard as my first shot ever in varsity basketball.”
Music on iPod: “Pump-up songs”
Future plans: Play college football
Words to live by: “You decide your own future.”
One goal before turning 30: “Hopefully become a millionaire!”
One thing people don’t know about me: “I can jump over my car.”
Josh Mastromatto spent his football career listening to people tell him he was too small.Until this year.
The Upper Dublin senior – who’s listed as 5-6, 155 pounds – says he didn’t hear so much as a whisper about his size.
“It was tough throughout the years, but it just stopped this year,” Mastromatto said. “No one said it all year.
“I thought that was pretty cool, but at the same time, I like proving people wrong.”
Mastromatto silenced his critics with a record-breaking season that saw him find his way into the end zone a school record 25 times.
Each time, the Upper Dublin star almost matter of factly handed the ball to the official and then celebrated with his teammates. There was never any in-your-face posturing by this young athlete, who is more concerned about thanking his teammates than taking a bow himself.
“I hope my kids grow up to be just like him,” coach Bret Stover said. “He’s the kind of kid that comes up and thanks you after every single practice. He’ll thank you before he leaves after every game.”
People outside the Upper Dublin community noticed.
Mastromatto was selected by the Norristown Chapter of PIAA Football Officials as the SOL varsity player to receive the Sportsmanship Award, an award he will receive on Thursday night.
“We like to think that hopefully that’s a reflection of what we do at Upper Dublin,” Stover said. “Our kids are very respectful – play hard until the whistle and then get back in the huddle.
“We don’t want the showboat in the end zone. ‘Act like you’ve been there’ is our motto, and Josh totally, totally would be the poster child for that.”
Mastromatto is honored to receive the award.
“I never believe in the trash talking,” he said. “I just want to play football.”
And few have played it better than the Flying Cardinals’ senior.
Mastromatto’s numbers are nothing short of amazing for an athlete who saw limited varsity time last year. The speedy running back – who qualified for districts in the 100 meter dash - had 192 carries for 1,537 yards and 17 touchdowns. He had 13 pass receptions for 240 yards and five touchdowns.
If that wasn’t enough, Mastromatto returned a punt 51 yards for a touchdown and a kickoff 98 yards for a TD. He also had an interception TD return of 66 yards. His 25 TDs is a single season record at Upper Dublin. Mastromatto also holds the career record with 30 touchdowns.
The senior running back – who grew up believing basketball would be his sport of choice in college - admits those numbers exceeded his most optimistic goals.
“I actually was kind of surprised – I’m not going to lie,” he said. “At the same time, I’m one of those guys who is never really satisfied with how stuff goes. I always look to be better.
“I put up stats I didn’t think I would be able to, but at the same time, at the end of the season, I sit back and say, ‘What could I have done differently to make those 25 touchdowns 30 touchdowns?’”
As a sophomore, Mastromatto was injured and played in only the last couple of games of the season for the junior varsity.
“He did okay,” Stover said. “We knew he was an athlete because we saw him play basketball and we saw him run track.”
Last year, Stover used Mastromatto in the slot and also as a kick returner.
“We didn’t know he was that good – I’m not going to lie to you,” the Flying Cardinal coach said. “Otherwise I would have played him last year.
“We found ways to get him into games. He was small, and we didn’t think he would be durable enough to take a beating running between the tackles. He hadn’t spent a lot of time in the weight room before that.”
Mastromatto made a commitment to work in the weight room year-round during the off-season last year.
“I put so much time and work in with my teammates, and it really showed in all of us – not just myself,” he said.
Stover points to Mastromatto’s commitment to adding muscle mass as the reason for his breakout season.
“That really was the key to him being able to take the punishment,” the Cardinals’ coach said. “There were a couple of 30-carry games, a bunch of 20-carry games, and he took a beating.
“He’s a perfect example of a kid who put himself in the weight room and benefited from the results of that as far as being durable. He had natural ability, and we knew that, but his being able to take the pounding of high school football - he’ll tell you that was attributed to the weight room.”
The results were nothing short of astounding, and Stover’s pre-season plans to use the speedy running back mainly to receive passes out of the backfield went out the window after Upper Dublin’s first scrimmage against Central Bucks East.
“He showed he was going to stick it in there, put his head down and move the pile and also get in the middle of the pile and pop out of it and run for touchdowns,” Stover said. “That’s when we knew we had somebody special.”
After a pair of mid-season un-Mastromatto-like rushing performances against Upper Moreland and Norristown, Stover adjusted his game plan.
“We moved him around, and he was even more exciting,” the Cardinals’ coach said. “Teams had to account for him, and you had guys like Robbie Swartz and (Mark) Visco getting loose up the middle because everyone was so worried about where he was.
“Teams had to always account for him in their defensive schemes. Once we started moving him around, it became a ‘Where’s Waldo?’ I would think it would have been a little bit of a game-planning nightmare.”
A high ankle sprain forced Mastromatto to watch the second half of the Flying Cardinals’ season-ending loss to Conestoga in the district opener from the sidelines.
“He apologized to me at halftime because he couldn’t go,” Stover said. “Why is he apologizing to me? I feel bad for him because it’s his last high school game.
“He doesn’t care about that, and that’s the ultimate team player.”
“That was horrible,” Mastromatto said of being relegated to a spectator. “I just wanted them to win so bad so maybe I could come out another week. It was hard, but there was a reason for it somewhere in there.
“It was so hard to get off the field after the game. If we won that playoff game - that would have been the first playoff win in school history. It really would have sealed everything for a perfect season.”
As endings go, this wasn’t a bad one for Mastromatto and his teammates. He points to defending the American Conference crown as a highlight of the season.
“Nobody ever thought we would do it,” he said. “My grade was completely looked down on for sports ever since we got to high school. We had kids leave for private school, and no one ever thought we would do it.
“We were always undersized, always a little slow – someone always came up for a new excuse for us. Everybody wanted to prove somebody else wrong. It really is an honor to share it with Upper Moreland because that is a really good team this year.”
Mastromatto plans to play football at the collegiate level.
“Whoever ends up with him is going to get not only a great football player but a great kid,” Stover said. “I’ve already had some interest from some schools. I’d like to see him in a school where he could play maybe three or four years.
“He could re-write some record books for the right university.”
And don’t bet against an athlete who has made a career out of proving doubters wrong.
