East Orange Campus HS football team defeats Barringer on Thanksgiving

NEWARK, NJ — The East Orange Campus High School football team ended the season in emphatic fashion, defeating Barringer High School, 38-0, on Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 23, at Schools Stadium.

The Jaguars ended the season with two straight shutout victories and finished with a 3-7 record. In the previous game, they defeated West Side High School, 40-0.

Thanksgiving 2023 was more than about expectations at this year’s annual football game between EOCHS and Barringer. East Orange Campus had a difficult season this year, dropping seven games and not making the playoffs for the first time in almost 10 years, where the Jaguars played a consolation game against Paterson Eastside. They then played Newark West Side and won that game convincingly.

Barringer limped into the game with three wins this season, having lost key games that would have given them the Super Football Conference–Freedom Red Division title and a clean shot at their first playoff appearance under head coach David McCombs. As part of the annual festivities, both schools participated in the Old Guard Hall of Fame Dinner that has been going on since 1922. The game was established in 1897 and is currently the second oldest in the state that is played on Turkey Day.

Barringer was a gracious host this season, as East Orange played its home games at Newark Schools Stadium, while their home field, Robeson Stadium, was being renovated. With all the hype leading up to Thanksgiving, Barringer hoped to change the fortune and pull one out. Barringer has not won a game against the East Orange Campus Jaguars, or the former East Orange High School Panthers, since 1993. Barringer, led by standout running back-linebacker Rakir Brown, quarterback Alexander Feliciano and wide receivers-defensive backs Quamain Young, Tyshaun Young and Dawud Arce, dropped six straight games, starting with the 50-37 shootout against Orange and the 34-26 double-overtime nailbiter against Milburn to put it out of contention for the division title, along with their playoff hopes two weeks later.

The opening quarter would start with the Blue Bears winning the coin toss and taking the opening kickoff, but they were forced to trade punts with East Orange, as the game slowly picked up steam. On the Blue Bears’ second possession of the game, Barringer was on its way to score the game’s first touchdown by attempting to cap the nine-play, 59-yard drive with a quick pass to the end zone. But East Orange’s defense, led by DB Daveion Thomas, had other ideas. Thomas would pick off Feliciano’s intended pass in the end zone for the touchback. 

East Orange QB Kyree Fisher would immediately put his squad to work from its own 20-yard line. Thanks to the big 55-yard bulldozing gallop by RB Corey Woolridge, Fisher would toss an 11-yard pass to RB/WR Shakur Taylor before capping the five-play, 80-yard drive with a 2-yard scoot into the house with just under a minute left in the first quarter. 

On Barringer’s next possession to start the second quarter, Feliciano’s pocket was picked off yet again by East Orange DB Jermaine Puryear, who was playing in his first game since being injured earlier this season. Puryear tight-roped the other direction down the Barringer sideline for the 40-yard, pick-6, giving the Jaguars a 13-0 lead with 11:45 left in the half. 

Barringer took over on its own 45-yard line on its next possession. The Bears drove to the East Orange 20-yard line before stalling. Fisher would unleash his passing attack, dropping a 40-yard money shot to Taylor, while alternating between himself and Woolridge, before flipping another 15-yard touchdown strike to Alex Hanks with 2:51 remaining in the half and a 19-0 lead. Barringer would fail to convert on its final possession of the first half. 

Right out the gate in the third quarter, Fisher would continue his aerial assault on the Blue Bears defense. Starting from the Jaguars 22-yard line, Fisher would toss the rock twice to WR Fabien Mere and Taylor. Fisher uncorked a 68-yard touchdown bomb to Taylor with 10:50 left in the third quarter. The Jaguars kept the pressure on the Blue Bears defensively, shutting down their threats in the red zone four times throughout the game, thanks to the acrobatic catches of WR Quamain Young, who almost single-handedly carried the Blue Bears to a score, which included a 65-yard reception. Young would finish the game with three catches for 110 yards. But the Blue Bears would ultimately turn the ball over on downs at the East Orange 5-yard line with just under seven minutes left in the third quarter. Fisher would rely on the bruising rushing attack of Woolridge for most of the 11-play, 95-yard march toward Bloomfield Avenue. Fisher completed the march, scrambling to his right and finding WR Kygee Jackson for a 35-yard fingertip grab to extend the already comfortable lead to 31-0 with just over a minute left in the third quarter.

The fourth quarter would see the Jags seal up the game after the Blue Bears would fumble the ball in the next-to-last red zone attempt, giving the ball up at the East Orange 11-yard line with 8:08 left in the game. Fisher would rush for a 12-yard gain, before feeding the ball to Taylor, who immediately hit the turbo button toward the tailgate party 78 yards later for the final 38-0 score.

Barringer’s Feliciano would pass the ball three times on the final drive of the game, but would come up empty twice.

This would be the second game in a row that the Jaguars would pitch a shutout to Newark high schools. In light of everything that the Jaguars went through this season, head coach John Jacob said to his team, “This is how you finish your season. We had to go through some stuff and we were not where we wanted to be, but we finished on a high note.” He went on to say that his seniors were excellent leaders and he thanked them for their contributions. His message for his rising classes is to enjoy this win, because they will get back to work in the offseason in a couple of weeks. He was very proud of his team and coaching staff, as they are looking to bring the noise next year. 

“We should have our stadium back by then and we’ll be ready to go,” Jacob said.

McCombs said that there were some games his squad should have won, but the mistakes that were made did not help them out in the final outcome of those games. Both East Orange and Barringer closed out their seasons with matching 3-7 records and will look to go back to the drawing board. Both EOCHS and Barringer will be looking to address their quarterback situations, as both Fisher and Feliciano will graduate as seniors this year. “We will be assessing our needs once our offseason officially begins,” McCombs said. He did allude to the idea that anything can happen, but he will make those decisions after the new year. 

East Orange leads the all-time series 63-39-9 over Barringer. The game at one point in time was the oldest continuing rivalry in the state and the fifth oldest in the country.

  East Orange Campus High School football