EAST ORANGE, NJ — The East Orange Campus High School football team defeated Paterson Eastside 34-28 to improve to 6-0.
On a cold, raining nor’easter Saturday afternoon, Oct. 11, at Paul Robeson Stadium in East Orange, the EOCHS Jaguars were playing their last home game of the season before heading out to West Orange and Clifton, followed by the North Jersey Group 5 playoffs and the annual Turkey Day grudge match with Barringer. On Senior Day, the Jaguars were celebrating their 26 graduating seniors, with one heading off to college for early admission at the close of the football season.
The Eastside Ghosts were looking to issue a scary exam that East Orange has yet to take since they’ve blown out everyone leading up to their meeting. The Jaguars were in the habit of delivering doughnuts to their first four opponents, and then Bloomfield broke that streak by scoring the lone touchdown all season in the previous week, while paying the 34-6 price and keeping the Jags undefeated.
Eastside wasn’t so lucky to start the season. They kicked off the season with a visit from Chicago Hope High School from Chicago, losing that game in a close 20-18 decision. They would defeat Clifton the following week, 23-14, but would drop their last four games to Passaic County Tech, Hackensack, Bayonne and Passaic by a combined score of 143-62.
The game started with East Orange deferring the opening kickoff to the second half. The Ghosts, led by senior quarterback David Gonzalez – who came into the game with 700 passing yards, completing 46 passes on 88 attempts with five touchdowns and three interceptions – weren’t sure handing out the exam was a good idea, as the Jaguars’ stingy defense, led by junior defensive end Esa Wittingburg, senior lineman Zion Thompson and senior linebacker Abdoul Kafando brought their lunch pails and hot chocolate, looking for a tasty quarterback stew.
The Ghosts punted on their first possession, giving East Orange junior QB Zachary Concepcion, senior running back Shaler Jackson III and junior RB Jaleel Halsey the opportunity to grind out an eight-play, 74-yard ground-and-pound attack that looked somewhat textbook, with Jackson taking the ball 11 and 27 yards, respectively, for the first score of the day with 5:48 left in the first quarter.
The Ghosts again were looking unsure, as they quickly punted for the second time, but not without testing some things first. Meanwhile, Concepcion marched his troops 75 yards on 10 plays, while flipping the field for the turn of the second quarter. Jackson would get the call to cap the drive with a 3-yard skip to the Park Avenue end zone, taking the 14-0 lead.
But the Ghosts found a way to make quick work of a 65-yard drive. Starting at their own 35-yard line, senior RB Adrian Rivera punched through the Jaguars’ defense for a 14-yard gain, followed by Gonzalez finding Kayson McCaskill for a short 7-yard gain. Gonzalez uncorked a 41-yard strike to Rivera, who barely outran a pack of Jaguar defenders to cut East Orange’s lead in half, 14-7. The test had officially begun with 7:41 left in the first half. Both teams traded punts to end the half.
The third quarter started with East Orange going three-and-out with its punt, pinning the Ghosts on their own 12-yard line. That’s when East Orange’s hungry defensive front struck paydirt. Junior DL Sadiq Dues bullrushed Gonzalez for an impending sack, spinning him like a dancing top, while wrestling with the ball for a stripped fumble and an 8-yard score for the 21-7 lead with 10:22 remaining in the third quarter. That only angered the Ghosts, who got spookier as the test progressed. “Let’s Go! They haven’t been tested like this yet! They were expecting us to be easy, but not today!” shouted a member of the Eastside coaching staff, who could be heard from the booth. Not even a minute had gone by, when the Ghosts countered with a 32-yard spooky delivery from Gonzalez to Rivera to pull within 21-14 with 9:01 left in the third quarter.
But the Jaguars didn’t falter. Starting from their 13-yard line after the ensuing kickoff, Jackson III exploded up the gut for a 66-yard gallop, putting the Ghosts on high alert for ghost-busting activity. To quickly follow that explosion, Halsey brought it home for the 28-14 lead with 8:30 left in the third quarter.
The Ghosts decided to change tactics and hit the airways, going 65 yards in 10 plays, with Gonzalez finding senior WR Malcolm Cokely for a 21-yard bullet to again pull the game within a score going into the fourth quarter.
Cokely shut down another possible East Orange scoring drive by intercepting Concepcion’s intended pass for Jaguars senior standout WR Alex Hanks, who missed an early interception in the first quarter by dropping the ball from his defensive back position. Gonzalez, Rivera and Cokely found ways to spook the Jaguars and make the game interesting. They took advantage of the short field position, making sure the Jaguars took notice to end the third quarter. That sparked a ghostly rally, taking nine plays over 38 yards and ending with Gonzalez and the Ghosts doing their version of the tush push to get the much-needed 1-yard score to tie the game at 28-28 with 8:10 remaining in the game.
East Orange didn’t really like that too much, and quickly responded in kind. The Ghosts seemingly had the Jaguars on the ropes, but it would be the quick feet of Jackson, Halsey and Concepcion keeping the pedal to the metal, while gassing the Eastside defense 74 yards in six plays, with Jackson slashing his way for the go-ahead 34-28 score after the failed point-after try with 5:32 left in the contest.
Again, the Ghosts were not looking to relinquish the Jaguars from their exams just yet. With nothing left to lose and everything to gain, Eastside flung everything, including the locker room sink, at the Jaguars, who withstood the ghostly onslaught. Eastside started at its 43-yard line, going 16 plays, coupled with strategic timeouts from both teams, and moving down to the East Orange 1-yard line with just 0:05 seconds left in the game. East Orange’s stingy defense faced a very scary, upset-minded Eastside offense. Gonzalez attempted to sneak in, but East Orange wasn’t having it this time and came away with the game-saving, walk-off, goal-line stand that kept the Jaguars in the hunt for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
“We definitely are the best one-win team in North Jersey, hands down,” said Eastside head coach James Magazine. He said that his staff member was correct that East Orange hasn’t faced anyone like them and he was proud of his team for fighting through it all. “We are not an easy out; you will have to face us no matter what,” he said.
“I told you last week that, of all the teams we played so far, that this team could possibly beat us,” East Orange head coach John Jacob told his team after the game. “It goes to show you how you prepare for the game, work, school and in life as young men, fathers, sons and future leaders of your community.” He went on to say that this week is behind them, as they start to prepare for West Orange’s “on top of the hill,” as he described it.
Eastside still may have a chance to sneak into the playoffs if they win out the rest of their games against Bergenfield on the road next week and Edison at home the following week. Of course, they will need help and will have to have a few teams lose to make the jump four spots. East Orange is currently fourth behind Bridgewater-Raritan, West Orange and Piscataway in the United Power Rankings standings that will determine the playoff teams.
The Jaguars will travel to West Orange High School on Friday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. East Orange defeated West Orange in last year’s North Jersey, Section 1, Group 5 state championship game. West Orange is 5-2 on the
season.
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Photos Courtesy of Kerry E. Porter
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