EAST ORANGE, NJ – The East Orange Campus High School football team defeated Montclair, 26-6, at Paul Robeson Stadium on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 28, in East Orange.
The Jaguars improved to 3-0 on the season. It was the first time EOCHS beat Montclair since 2010 and snapped an eight-game skid in the series. Montclair fell to 1-3.
In 2007, EOCHS was able to bring home its first state championship in more than 40 years when it defeated Montclair, 31-13 in the North 1, Group 4 title game on a snowy field at the old Giants Stadium.
Montclair has dominated the rivalry since losing that championship game to EOCHS. But the Jaguars found retribution this past Saturday with a big win over the Mounties that began a three-game gauntlet in which the Jaguars will face Seton Hall Prep and West Orange over the next two weeks on the road before coming back home to play Livingston.
East Orange Campus got the party started quickly after the opening kickoff. Quarterback Nasir Montgomery flipped a screen pass to wide receiver Quadir Scott, who made sure that Montclair was on notice by going 55 yards for the opening 6-0 score. The Mounties came right back, led by QB Michael Robinson, who capped an eight-play, 62-yard march with a one-yard answer to tie the game at 6-6.
Both teams struggled with penalties. East Orange had 10 penalties for just shy of 100 yards before the first quarter. With score deadlocked, the EOCHS defense, led by defensive tackle Keshawn Munford (three sacks, one fumble recovery, 3 1/2 tackles for losses), linebacker Locksley Burke (seven tackles, three for losses, three sacks) and defensive back Ian Brown (four tackles, four forced incompletions) found a way to break down Montclair’s vaunted offense, pinning the Mounties in their own territory and not allowing them past the 50 yard-line the whole game.
Late in the second quarter, Munford made his presence felt with an impressive bull rush to the quarterback and getting the first of his three sacks. He immediately followed that up with a second sack and fumble recovery the very next play, giving the Jaguars excellent field position deep in Montclair’s territory. That’s when East Orange Campus running back Matthew Ziao (seven carries for 130 yards, three touchdowns) made his appearance felt, going for the first of his three touchdowns in the game. He scooted to the house from five yards out to give his squad the lead. Ian Brown completed the two-point conversion to put East Orange up, 14-6, at the half.
Again both teams fought toe-to-toe, with the Jaguars holding on to a tenuous eight-point lead in the third quarter. But Ziao found the end zone to start the final frame. East Orange was already on the move. Ziao capped an eight-play, 42-yard march with a six-yard touchdown to put the score slightly out of reach after the missed conversion, making it 20-6 with 11:46 left in the game.
Burke and Co. made an all-important play to keep the Mounties at bay. Montclair’s Robinson tried to put his team on his back and carry them to a score, but Burke led his squad to an outright goal-line stand, taking away any chance for the Mounties to get back in the game.
With the ball near their own goal line, Montgomery (4-of-9 passing, 110 yards and 1 TD; six carries for 52 yards rushing) snuck the ball three yards before Ziao galloped up the East Orange sideline, pulled a beautiful Reggie Bush-esque crossover move and making the Mounties’ defense whiff and stumble into each other as he continued up the Jaguars’ sideline for a 96-yard touchdown, putting the Jags in full control with 8:07 left in the game at 26-6 after the failed two-point conversion.
“We have nothing but respect for them,” Montclair head coach John Fiore said. “They got veteran guys and were looking for a good game.” He went on to explain that they had nine seniors this year out of the original 16 who started with the program.
EOCHS head coach Rae Oliver said the win was something that was a long time in the making and was happy to see it done.
“We are happy to finally win a game this big,” Oliver said. “This is only the beginning with this group; we have the rest of the season as we are now looking at our next game against Seton Hall, which will be another test for us.”
The Jaguars will face the Seton Hall Prep Pirates at Brian P. Tevlin Memorial Field in West Orange on Saturday, Oct. 5, at 2 p.m.
Seton Hall Prep (3-1) has won two straight.
East Orange Campus (3-0)
Sept. 6, Won, at Newark East Side, 50-2
Sept. 14, Won, Passaic, 42-0
Sept. 28, Won, Montclair, 22-6
Oct. 5, at Seton Hall Prep, 2 p.m.
Oct. 11, at West Orange, 7 p.m.
Oct. 19, Livingston, 2:30 p.m.
Oct. 25, Columbia, 7 p.m.
Nov. 1, at Bloomfield, 7 p.m.
Nov. 28, Barringer, 10:30 a.m.
Photos Courtesy of Mustafa Hooten/DIMediaPro.com
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