East Orange Football All Stars host Atlantic Coast Youth Spring Football League Championships

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

EAST ORANGE – The East Orange Football All Stars hosted the Atlantic Coast Youth Spring Football League Championships, Sunday, June 5. The often stormy day saw four very highly contested games in which three games were decided by a lone touchdown and in stunning fashion.

The first game of the day was the 10U level featuring the North Jersey Crushers from Jersey City against the Silk City Cardinals from Paterson. The game was deadlocked in an all-out defensive battle where both teams shut down the opposing offenses as they were about to score each time they had the ball. Ultimately it would be the Cardinals’ pivotal drive late in the game that would set the tone for the remainder of the day. QB Cashmere Jones and WR Makhy Acey hooked up for a total of 7 times through the air for 76 yards on the day. That included a game-winning lone touchdown pass with just under a minute in regulation. “I wanted to come off the field for one play to get my breath,” said Acey, “but coach said we have decisions to make, we can let you sit out a play or we can go get this score and the championship… What do you want to do? I said (I) want to go get that score.” And the very next play with time running out he proceeded to haul in a beautiful over-the-shoulder 30-yard strike from Jones to break the deadlock and come away as the 10U champions.

Silk City wasn’t done as they had two more games to go and both against a highly vaunted East Orange All Stars Football team. The Cardinals had their hands full when the 12U squads started play for the day. Led by RB/LB Ameer Smith and WR/S Nuccio Lisitano, the Cardinals wasted no time in going to the air where Lisitano was the most effective. However, the All Stars were able to adjust after Lisitano hauled in a toe-tapping 34-yard reception to the All Stars 46-yard line where the Cardinals stalled and couldn’t convert a crucial first down in the first quarter. The All Stars took over late in the first quarter, driving the ball 55 yards in 7 plays with a 27-yard scoring scamper into the end zone by RB Sharif Bryant to put the All Stars up 7-0 going into the half. The Cardinals’ defense, led by Smith and Lisitano and DB Jonathan Gonzalez, did everything to contain the potent rushing attack of the All Stars by forcing them to pass the ball and snaring two interceptions. Again, the All Stars’ defense came up big late in the third quarter. The Cardinals were in the midst of putting the All Stars on their heels when they fumbled the ball on a screen pass which All Stars LB Sharif Bryant scooped up for a 42-yard return and a 13-0 lead. The Cardinals gave it one more shot as they worked the sidelines but the All Stars were just too strong and kept the Cardinals out of the end zone for the win and Championship.

The Cardinals 14U squad put up a tougher fight against the All Stars as the two teams squared off for the 14U Championships. They both traded drives deep into the other’s territory 4 times but never making it past the opposite 15-yard line. That all changed late in the game with time running out. The Panthers, led by RB Ian Brown, swept to the right, finding a little running room for 27 yards and touchdown later with OL Keyshawn Munford scoring the PAT on a Lineman eligible play. giving the All Stars 7-0 walk-off back-to-back Championship.

The East Orange Hurricanes and the Air Sports Group squared off in the final contest of the day. The game featured some young guns of the Coaching world in the Hurricanes’ Terrell Adams and Adrian Foote. These two coaches were instrumental getting the Hurricanes moving in the right direction as they were both products of the East Orange Wildcats P.A.L. Football program. Adams attended and played for both East Orange High and Barringer High School before heading off to Mount Ida College in Boston, Mass. where he played for three seasons before transferring back home to Star Academy where he received his Bachelors in Culinary Arts. Coach Foote attended North Arlington High school and a Prep school in North Carolina for his first year of college. He is currently enrolled at Bergen Community College for summer credits and intends to enroll at Rutgers University where he will compete for playing time for the Scarlet Knights in the upcoming 2016 College Football season as a true sophomore.  These coaches were also very active on the sideline as they kept their players in the game when Air Sports Group went on the attack early in the game. Air Sport Group’s QB Jahlan Dabney found WR Lord Jones on quick slant pattern which resulted in a 20-yard reception which gave Air Sports Group a first down inside the ‘Canes’  10-yard line.  Three plays later, Dabney forced his way into the end zone on a quarterback sneak for the game’s lone score.

Air Sports Group is an all star team made of players all over Somerset County and makes their practice and game home in Bridgewater.  When asked what made the Hurricanes work this season, both young coaches responded “One City, One Team, and One Goal.”  They went on to explain that their players play for one City which is East Orange and one team which are the Hurricanes. They further explained that they have one goal in getting to Disney’s Wide World of Sport in the fall for the National Pop Warner Super Bowl in Orlando, Fla.

The Atlantic Coast Youth Spring Football League consists of nine teams made of mostly All Star players from area teams throughout the state. “We are looking to grow and will look to include more teams in the coming year,” stated League Director James Roach. “We are excited to see the game being played at this level as we play mostly a six-game season with a playoff and championship. I am happy to see that East Orange in particular has been able to bring a high level of competition and they’re a great addition to our league.”