East Orange Campus High quarterback Q’uran Dixon looks to fire a pass during the loss to Columbia. The Jaguars have since won two straight.
Photo by Steve Ellmore
EAST ORANGE, NJ (corrected Tuesday Oct. 4, 1:56 p.m.) – The East Orange Campus High School varsity football team is feeling good going into its showdown with perennial power Montclair HS this Saturday, Oct. 8.
That’s because the Jaguars have been playing well lately, bringing a two-game winning streak into this key North Jersey Super Football Conference Liberty Blue Division game at Woodman Field in Montclair. Kickoff is 1 p.m.
The Jaguars are looking to beat Montclair for the first time since 2010. Montclair has beaten the Jaguars in each of the past five seasons, including last season’s meeting, 38-30, at Woodman Field.
The Jaguars improved to a 3-1 overall record with a hard-fought 14-8 win over Paterson Kennedy in a non-conference game in Paterson last Saturday, Oct. 1.
Montclair is coming off its first loss of the season, falling at non-conference foe Union City, 7-0, last Friday night, Sept. 30, to move to a 2-1 record.
EOCHS is 1-1 and Montclair is 1-0 in the NJSFC LIberty Blue Division.
Senior quarterback/linebacker Naseem White had another strong performance for the Jaguars in the win over Kennedy. On defense, White returend a fumble 86 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter to give head coach Al-Majid Hutchins’ team a 6-0 lead.
In the second quarter, White connected with junior running back Nasir Neal on a 55-yard touchdown pass. Senior running back Giovanni Shine ran for the two-point conversion.
In the Jaguars’ previous game, White ran for 175 yards and a touchdown and passed for another 145 yards and a score in the 28-3 divisional win over Livingston on Sept. 23 at Paul Robeson Stadium.
The Jaguars have bounced back nicely with the two straight wins following a tough 34-28 loss to Columbia on a late touchdown at Robeson Stadium on Sept. 17.
Montclair’s divisional win came against Livingston, 56-0, in its second game on Sept. 17.
The Montclair Mounties, under head coach John Fiore, have been considered the best team in Essex County since the start of the decade. They reached a state sectional championship game in five consecutive seasons from 2010-2014 with Fiore. In those championship games, held at MetLife Stadium, the Mounties went 3-2. They lost to Randolph and North Bergen in 2010 and 2011 respectively in the North 1, Section 4 finals. North Bergen forfeited the title due to a NJSIAA recruiting violation. In the inaugural year for North Jersey Section 1, Group 5 in 2012, they beat Bloomfield in a classic 16-13 double-overtime thriller. They defeated Ridgewood and Passaic Tech in the next two years respectively in the Section 1, Group 5 finals to become three-peat champions. They had back-to-back 12-0 seasons in 2012 and 2013 and went 11-1 in 2014. Last season, Montclair lost to Ridgewood in the semifinals before finishing 5-6.
East Orange Campus (3-1)
Sept. 9, Won, at Memorial of West New York, 61-15
Sept. 17, Loss, Columbia, 34-28
Sept. 23, Won, Livingston, 28-3
Oct. 1, at Won, Paterson Kennedy, 14-8
Oct. 8, at Montclair, 1 p.m.
Oct. 22, Bloomfield, 1 p.m.
Oct. 28, Morristown, 7 p.m.
Nov. 5, at West Orange, 7 p.m.
Nov. 24, at Barringer, 11 a.m.
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