EAST ORANGE, NJ — The East Orange Campus High School football team continued its dominance over Barringer in their Thanksgiving Day series.
Senior Irijah Wright rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown on just seven carries, and he also returned a kickoff for a touchdown, and senior Kasim Cross rushed for two touchdowns to lead the Jaguars to a 38-0 win over Barringer on Thanksgiving Day at Paul Robeson Stadium in East Orange.
Junior quarterback Kyree Fisher passed for 179 yards and a touchdown, and he ran for another score.
The Jaguars, under first-year head coach John Jacob, finished the season with a 4-6 record. The Thanksgiving game was their first since losing to Clifton on Oct. 28 in the first round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 1, Group 5 state playoffs.
Wright opened the scoring on a 63-yard touchdown run, followed by sophomore Samuel Adekolu’s extra-point kick, in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Fisher hooked up with senior receiver and University of Maryland commit Joshua Richards on a 54-yard touchdown pass, followed by Adekolu’s extra point, and Cross had a 14-yard touchdown run for a 20-0 halftime lead.
Wright returned the second-half kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown to make it 26-0.
In the fourth quarter, Fisher had a 7-yard touchdown run, and Cross had a 9-yard touchdown run.
Richards finished with three catches for 95 yards, and senior receiver BJ Covington had three catches for 84 yards. Cross finished with 54 rushing yards on six carries, Fisher carried three times for 17 yards, and senior Marquis Gilyard had five carries for 35 yards.
Wright also had a fumble recovery on defense.
The victory snapped a three-game losing streak. The Jaguars’ most recent win was against West Orange, which went on to beat Phillipsburg, 28-7, to win the North 2, Group 5 state sectional title in its first-ever appearance in a state sectional final.
The Jaguars have defeated Barringer every year since the Thanksgiving Day series was resumed in 2009. The series is one of the oldest in the nation, dating back to 1897.
East Orange Campus recovered from an 0-3 start to the season, which began with a loss at Clifton. EOCHS defeated Clifton, 30-24, in triple overtime in the Group 5 state regional championship game to cap a 13-0 season in 2021.
Here are the EOCHS results this season.
- Sept. 1: loss, at Clifton, 21-0.
- Sept. 9: loss, at Irvington, 27-21, double overtime.
- Sept. 17: loss, vs. Randolph, 34-27.
- Sept. 24: win, vs. Bloomfield, 52-12.
- Oct. 1: win, at Montclair, 20-7.
- Oct. 7: win, at West Orange, 25-12.
- Oct. 15: loss, vs. Passaic Tech, 19-13.
- Oct. 21: loss, at West Essex, 20-0.
- Oct. 28, loss, as No. 5 seed, at No. 4 seed Clifton, 17-7, in the North 1, Group 5 state sectional quarterfinals.
- Nov. 24: win, vs. Barringer, 38-0.
About the Author
