NEWARK, NJ — The East Orange Campus High School football team defeated Newark East Side, 20-0, Sept. 13, to improve to 2-0.
It was a packed house at Eddie Moraes Field/Ironbound Stadium in Newark, when the East Orange Campus Jaguars went to pay a visit with Newark East Side Red Raiders. The game started with several penalties. Each team had no less than three penalties that dictated the flow of the game. Despite those penalties, the Jaguars were able to put together an impressive drive to get the game back on track.
East Orange, led by quarterback Sa’eed Cole, running backs Tyshawn Sewell and Shaler Jackson III, and receiver Shakur Taylor, made their presence felt with the help of the offensive line, led by Alvins Collins, as well as on defense, led by linebacker Abdoul Kafando.
Cole marshaled his squad 81 yards, with Sewell capping the drive with a one-yard dive into the end zone to go up 6-0 with 1:36 left in the first quarter.
For the second straight game, East Orange had a pick-6. In the season opener on Sept. 7, Taylor had a 24-interception return for a score against Livingston in the 33-26 win. This time, defensive back Isaac Mathurin popped out and snapped an Xavier Smith pass intended for Imaad Kelly.
Mathurin returned the interception for a score, giving the Jaguars a 13-0 lead with 5:09 left in the second quarter.
Newark East Side, which was riding high off its two-game win streak, beating Plainfield in a defensive struggle 8-6, followed by steam-rolling past Columbia 42-7, attempted to respond late in the second quarter with an interception of its own, when defensive back Jakem Brown stepped in front of a pass from Cole. But the Jaguars would not let him get away so fast, pouncing on him immediately. With under a minute left, Smith threw up a competitive jump ball to wide receiver Brown, who made a spectacular aerial grab that was wrestled out of his hands by East Orange defensive back Samaj Toney-El with no time left on the clock to go into the half.
East Orange opened the second half with another big drive, marching 68 yards in seven plays. Cole found Toney-El for a 12-yard gain to spark the drive, with Sewell doing most of the damage between the tackles, going 27 yards on three carries and Jackson breaking free for a quick 19-yard sprint to the promise land, putting East Orange up comfortably 20-0 with 8:37 left in third quarter.
East Orange’s defense came up big against the surging Red Raiders, who were in the midst of a nine-play, 69-yard drive with an active front seven that shut down all attempts to get into the end zone by Smith and company, forcing a turnover on downs at the Jaguars’ one-yard line. East Orange held on to win the game to go up 2-0 on the season, while Newark East Side dropped to 2-1.
“I am extremely happy for what you brought today,” said East Orange head coach John Jacob to his team after the game. “You showed your will to win. We just need to work on our quality control. We get that done and nobody can stop us.” He made it clear for his team to rest up. as Montclair is coming on Sept. 21. “Enjoy this tonight, because tomorrow we’re back at it when Montclair comes to us,” he concluded.
Newark East Side head coach Damon Harrison said there were a lot of things that could have been done to change the direction of the game. “We had a lot of mental mistakes that hurt us in the beginning of the game,” he said. He said that they were going back to the drawing board. “We’re both North Jersey, Group 5, so we will see them again,” said Harrison, hinting at a possible playoff matchup down the road.
“Montclair week” started this week for the Jaguar faithful. Montclair opened its season with a 21-0 loss to the Winslow Eagles in the Battle at the Beach in Week 0. They then took on arch nemesis Ridgewood, which handed the Mounties their second loss of the season with 34-0 shutout. Montclair then played old Thanksgiving Day neighbor Bloomfield on Sept. 12 and won easily, 48-14.
The game against Montclair will take place at East Orange’s Paul Robeson Stadium at 1 p.m.
East Orange will then start a three-game road trip, starting with Orange High at Bell Stadium on Sept. 28 at 6 p.m. The game was rescheduled from Sept. 27.
They then will head over to Bloomfield to kick off the second half of the season, before going up to Paterson to face the Ghosts of Paterson Eastside.
Newark East Side will host the Union City Soaring Eagles on Sept. 21 at noon in Newark’s Ironbound Stadium. They will then head on the road to face Clifton, before hosting Orange to kick off their push to make the playoffs.
Photos Courtesy of Kerry E. Porter
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