BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The East Orange Campus High School football team defeated Bloomfield, 41-6, Friday, Sept. 22, at Foley Field in Bloomfield.
The Jaguars earned their first win of the season, improving to 1-3. Bloomfield also moved to 1-3, coming off back-to-back shutout losses to West Orange and Livingston.
The Jaguars made an immediate impact after the opening kickoff. Still feeling the sting of the 42-35 down-to-the-wire loss at Randolph in the previous week, East Orange’s first play was a 42-yard turbo-driven gain by junior running back Shakur Taylor to the Bloomfield 33-yard line. With a steady hand, senior quarterback Kyree Fisher imposed his will to cap the eight-play, 74-drive with a 9-yard run for the early 7-0 lead with 8:40 left in the first quarter.
Bloomfield senior quarterback Trevor Frantantoni was on his horse for most of the game, trying to find an answer to the swarming Jaguar defense, led by senior linebacker Corey Woolridge. Woolridge’s defensive unit forced the Bengals to punt after their first series, as East Orange took over at its own 42-yard line with 5:48 to go in the first quarter. That wasn’t much more than a quick respite, as the Jaguars offense had proverbial jetpacks attached to their backs. Senior rnning back Da’maree Dyer zoomed past the Bengals defense, led by junior LB Alejandro Valencia, for a 56-yard stretching-of-the legs, setting up Fisher’s second 9-yard rushing score of the night to cap a four-play, 61-yard drive to up the lead to 14-0 at 2:55 in the first quarter.
Bloomfield seemed to put a sustained drive down the field. Frantantoni found a way to give the ball to RB Jonathan Nicol and fullback Sebastian Urena, while mixing in the occasional pass to senior tight end Elijah Valentin, to move the ball 77 yards in 15 plays, scoring on a 10-yard plunge into the house by Urena to cut into East Orange’s lead, 14-6, with 7:33 left in the first half.
But the answer by the Jaguars was swift and immediate after the ensuing kickoff. Fisher found his favorite target in Taylor, leaving the Bengals secondary in his wake with a 70-yard bomb to put the Jaguars’ lead back to two touchdowns, 20-6, with 6:37 left in the half. There was plenty of time to add another score from either team, but East Orange finally broke the end-of-the-half scoring drought on its next possession.
Bloomfield first tried to get another sustained drive, which included three East Orange defensive penalties and an attempted fake punt that the Jags snuffed out to force a turnover on downs.
East Orange, starting from its own 44-yard line, gobbled up 56 yards like it was a mid-quarter snack in six balanced plays of running and passing, sending Taylor for the 1-yard door-knocking score to put the Jags up with a commanding 28-6 score into halftime after the two-point conversion.
Frantantoni had his hands full with a hungry Jaguars defense to open the third quarter. He held the ball for his Bengals offense for nearly 4 minutes, starting from their own 28-yard line and marching the ball to the East Orange 45 in nine plays. They picked up two first downs before the drive fizzled.
The Bengals seemed to have a little fight when they counterpunched with their own forced three-and-out of the Jaguars’ potent attack. But in the spirit of defensive counterpunching, Taylor, from his defensive back position, snagged a Frantantoni pass intended for Bloomfield senior wide receiver Anthony Rodriguez and returned it 40 yards, setting up the quick, two-play, 3-yard heart-stumper, which Taylor would do the honors to dive right in, giving his Jags a 34-6 lead with 4:13 left in the third quarter.
Bloomfield wasted its next opportunity by going three-and-out for the third time in the contest. East Orange took over on the Bengals’ 42, going into the fourth quarter.
East Orange head coach John Jacob felt Fisher inflicted enough pain on the Bengals defense and had his backup QB, junior Sa’eed Cole, fill out the rest of the game where he kept the ball on the ground with the help of Dyer. They drove the ball down the field where Cole called his own number to get in on the scoring for the 2-yard touchdown and the final 41-6 score.
“I am happy that we finally got that off our chest,” said Jacob, as he addressed his squad after the game. “You came out here and finished what you started, and you got the win!” That was quickly met with their traditional throwing-up-the-shark fins in salute of the win. “This is Montclair week. We will be playing in a showcase at Kean University in Union, Friday evening (Sept. 29) at 7:30 p.m.,” said Jacob, as he continued to give instructions to his players for preparations for the big game.
Bloomfield head coach Mike Carter said he had expected to put up a good fight against the Jaguars, but admitted that they are a much better team than what their record showed. “We will take this opportunity to learn from this game and look forward to our game against Dickinson (on Friday, Sept. 29),” he said.
Montclair is 4-1 on the season after a decisive 33-7 road win over Livingston. Both EOCHS and Montclair seem to have something cooking up their sleeves, with dueling quarterbacks, front and center. Fisher and Montclair junior QB Malachi “Bubba” Lewis, along with their supporting offensive casts, will look to light up the scoreboard.
East Orange has won the last five meetings, going back to 2019, which included a regular season and playoff win that year. Montclair has made it clear to all that they have unfinished business after forfeiting their 2022 season due to playing an ineligible player.
Photos Courtesy of Kerry E. Porter and Jerry Simon
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