PHOTOS: East Orange Campus HS football team tops Montclair in first round of playoffs

EAST ORANGE, NJ — The East Orange Campus High School football team showed its resolve.

After squandering a nine-point halftime lead, the Jaguars found themselves trailing 14-9 going into the fourth quarter.

But EOCHS rose to the occasion. Quarterback Quadir Scott connected on a 22-yard touchdown pass to Al-Shadee Salaam to lift the third-seeded Jaguars to a thrilling 15-14 win over rival and sixth-seeded Montclair in the first round of the North Jersey Section 1, Group 5 playoffs on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 9, at Paul

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Robeson Stadium.

The Jaguars, who improved to 8-1 on the season, will visit second-seeded Passaic County Tech in the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 15, at 6 p.m. Passaic County Tech defeated seventh-seeded Watchung Hills, 49-15, Nov. 8, to improve to 7-3. The other semifinal pits fourth-seeded Westfield (6-3 record) at top-seeded Ridgewood (7-1). Montclair fell to 5-5.

It marked the Jaguars’ first playoff win since 2011.

EOCHS defeated Montclair, 26-6, in a Super Football Conference-Liberty Blue Division game at Robeson Stadium on Sept. 28. The Jaguars, under head coach Rae Oliver, clinched the divisional title for the second year in a row. They won this year’s title outright after sharing it last year with Montclair.

The 2019 playoffs have been set and many of the games were played over the cold and breezy weekend. What was on everyone’s mind was a particular game with a pair of backyard rivals.

East Orange Campus High School has been on a tear through its schedule with a lone blemish to Seton Hall Prep. Not since 2011 have the Jaguars reached an 8-1 mark. On the other hand, Montclair has also been in a few close calls that included a walk-off touchdown catch by TE Shawn Collins over Irvington last week, setting up a rematch that would possibly make or break the North Jersey Section 1 Group 5 brackets.

Head coaches John Fiore of Montclair and Rae Oliver of East Orange Campus saw this as a chance to prove to their respective teams that the other was not going to get to the next round. East Orange won the first meeting, 26-6, back in week 3 but this week’s game was more of a nailbiter.

The game started with both teams picking where they left off. East Orange opened the game kicking off to the Mounties but the Jaguars’ defense had other ideas. On the second play of the game, Montclair QB Michael Robinson tossed a deep pass intended for Bryan Jarrett but came up short as East Orange Campus DB Al-Shadee Salaam leapt and plucked the pass away, giving the Jaguars their first possession of the game. The defensive struggle between both teams led to East Orange marching into the Mounties’ red zone four times, while the Mounties played the miscue game, fumbling the ball four times as well punting twice. Two of those fumbles were caused by East Orange Jaguars LB Brandon Brown-Smith, who had a breakout game Saturday afternoon. He led the defense with the help of LB Locksley Burke and DL KeShawn Munford, who continued to be a force in the defensive front eight.

With just under four minutes left in the first quarter, East Orange broke the deadlock with RB Al-Shadee Salaam, who shook two Mounties defenders out their cleats, then baked the rest on his way to a 29-yard touchdown putting the Jags up 7-0 after the point-after kick.

The second quarter was more of a defensive struggle, but again, it was the Brown-Smith show as he forced a fumble with 7:25 left in the half, and forced a safety two minutes later, extending the lead to 9-0. The Mounties’ woes continued as they fumbled again with 28 seconds left in the half. But the third quarter was a slightly different story.

Robinson led the Mounties on a resurging third quarter, taking advantage of key East Orange mistakes and a punt. He marched his squad 42 yards in four plays with the help of a 15-yard personal foul penalty. capping the drive himself with a five-yard scoot to the house. The Mounties kept up their late pressure, keeping the momentum in their favor with a heavy dose of RB Jordan Diggs running through traffic. Diggs (15 carries, 78 yards 1 TD), found paydirt with 4:16 left in the third quarter, capping a 38-yard drive in eight plays with a six-yard dash to take a 14-9 lead over the Jags.

But the East Orange Jaguars had something to say about that in the fourth quarter.

East Orange quarterback Quadir Scott and Salaam took the game over with a rocking Robeson Stadium on their side. On defense, they shut down the Mounties’ deep threat in Donovin Bell and Collins while Burke, Munford, and Brown-Smith forced a combined 20 tackles, 10 sacks and a second interception which gave the Jags the perfect opportunity to wrest control back from Montclair. Scott then flipped the field on offense put the ball in Salaam’s hands with the help of RB Bryant Manuel. Salaam (25 carries for 105 yards rushing and 1 TD, 5 receptions for 65 yards and 1 TD). With just 9:12 left in the game, it was going to come down to the final possession and who was going to make it to the final bell; the horse race was on. Scott waggled right, bringing the Mounties’ defense in before reversing his direction and tossing a 21-yard strike to Salaam, who was wide open to the left side, giving his squad a one-point 15-14 advantage after the failed two-point conversion. “We knew that they were a different team,” said Oliver, “but we were a different team as well. Those previous games were emotional but this game was something more.”

The Mounties kept up the scramble to the final whistle when East Orange ate up the clock and was in victory formation. “We were all overjoyed with excitement”” said Scott of the last-second attempt to walk-off with a shot at Passaic County Technical Institute. There was a fumbled exchange where the Mounties pounced on the ball, but the Mounties couldn’t find their way out of the Jaguars’ onslaught with time winding down. “What do you expect; we knew that East Orange is on a hot streak, and we wanted it more,” Fiore said, “especially when we have nine seniors with only five starting.” He told his team that this was something that they will remember for the rest of their lives. The victories in life will out-way the losses. “You should understand that they are celebrating because they never got past us in a long time,” Fiore said. “For them to do it twice we have to commend them as we weren’t ready for what they were bringing to the table.”

This is the first time in more than 15 years that Montclair has been knocked out of the first round of the playoffs. East Orange will advance to the semifinal round since playing Franklin High School and Piscataway High School in 2011. East Orange lost 7-0 in a dogfight to the Chiefs that year. The Chiefs eventually won the North 2, Group 4 sectional final that year. In a twist of fate eight years later, Piscataway was also eliminated in the first round of the North 2, Group 5 playoffs by West Orange, 30-18, Nov. 8.

East Orange Campus (8-1)

Sept. 6, Won, at Newark East Side, 50-2

Sept. 14, Won, Passaic, 42-0

Sept. 28, Won, Montclair, 26-6

Oct. 5, Loss, at Seton Hall Prep, 31-12

Oct. 11, Won, at West Orange, 8-6 (OT)

Oct. 19, Won, Livingston, 35-7

Oct. 25, Won, Columbia, 46-14

Nov. 1, Won, at Bloomfield, 26-6

Nov. 9, Won, (6) Montclair, 15-14*

Nov. 15, at (2) Passaic County  Tech*

Nov. 28, Barringer, 10:30 a.m.

*North 1, Group 5 playoffs (EOC is No. 3 seed)

Photos by Kerry E. Porter