NEWARK, NJ – For the second year in a row, the Barringer High School football Blue Bears had the Jaguars of East Orange Campus High School on the ropes giving them a true scare as they attempted the impossible and that is win against an impossible force at Newark School Stadium.
The Jaguars won the game on Thanksgiving.
It has been 26 years since the last time Barringer has defeated East Orange. “It’s a special thing to have this kind of game,” said Barringer Head Coach Ronly London. London’s squad had a good game plan but just could not make the necessary adjustments for them.
“I feel the key of the game was the fact we were able to adjust to them and get after them defensively and then run wild on them in the second half,” stated East Orange Head Coach Al-Majid Hutchins. The Jaguars, with the help of DT Khalil Holcolmb (3.5 Sacks, 10 tackles, 4 hurries) and ATH Rady Rojas – Portilla, who was simply everywhere, took over the game after trailing the Blue Bears in the first half 6-0. Barringer struck first with an air assault that led to a 57 yard connection from QB Zamar Wise to WR Kariem Stewart with just under a minute to go in the first quarter. Barringer kicked an onside kick and recovered the ball with under 30 ticks left in the frame. “We figured that we can take advantage and extend our lead before they had an opportunity to score against us,” said Barringer Head Coach Ronly London. But that would not be in their favor as East Orange drove the ball 70 yards but the Blue Bears turned them away with their second goal-line stand with just 9.2 seconds left in the first half.
“We knew we had to change the tempo of the game and noticed that we could run the ball effectively on them,” stated East Orange Head Coach Al-Majid Hutchins. He went on to say that their persistence paid off as well because of the play of Rady Rojas-Portilla. Rojas, who scored two touchdowns and kicked the game winning field goal, practically carried the Jaguars to victory.
In the third quarter, East Orange Campus started with a four-and-a-half minute drive effectively pounding the ball in 10 plays and 52 yards. Rojas punched in from the 2 yard line escaping a hungry Blue Bear Defense to tie the score at 6-6. But Barringer was able to briefly pull ahead when CB Steven Wise snagged an interception from East Orange QB Naseem White and returned the ball 55 yards for the defensive touchdown giving the Blue Bears a 14-6 lead with just 22.1 seconds left in the third quarter.
East Orange, much like the previous quarter, methodically punched the ball down the field against the Barringer front seven led by Jocquai Burton and Aljuan Garrison. East Orange’s Rady Rojas-Portilla bulled his way to first and goal on the Blue Bears one yard line. On the following play, he slid in the house for the tying score after the successful two-point conversion to bring the excitement level to a fevered pitch. Rojas – Portilla struck again as he galloped 72 yards on the Jaguars’ next possession to give the Jaguars their first lead of the day. “I am so proud of him,” said Hutchins, “I have been saying this all season that he is something special to watch and I am sure come next year he’s going to be the best athlete in the state.” But hold everything as Barringer mounted their own attack with under three minutes left in the game. They went back to the air where QB Zamar Wise found his streaking WR Kariem Stewart practically in the same spot as the first connection. But this time it was with Stewart stretching out with two East Orange defenders on him. Stewart would complete the catch but was ruled out of bounds in the end zone. That didn’t stop the Blue Bears QB Zamar Wise, it only made him do the unthinkable. On the very next play, Wise was being penned in by East Orange’s tenacious defense led by DT Khalil Holcolmb. From the 50-yard line Wise scrambled to his left then dodged right, spinned out of a few more tackles and dove for paydirt to cap off a 50 yard scrambling scamper to give Barringer a slim 22-20 lead over East Orange.
Once again with time winding down, the Jaguars and Blue Bears were grinding it out in the middle of the field with both schools’ Alumni looking and listening intently on the next series. East Orange had the final possession and was looking to score. East Orange was on the move after the ensuing kickoff at their own 35 yard line. They immediately drove the ball inside the Barringer 35 yard line where clock was winding down. Both teams called a time out to plot their next moves. It just so happen that East Orange has a Kicker in Rady Rojas – Portilla. So Coach Hutchins called for his offense to try and score the touchdown with 38.6 seconds left in the game. Barringer came up big with a stop by almost picking off QB Q’uran Dixon’s pass. But that only put East Orange in striking distance as Rojas-Portilla came out to attempt the final field goal of the game with just 19.9 seconds on the clock. With just the air on electric and everyone in shouting distance of the Bloomfield Ave side of Newark School Stadium, East Orange’s Rady Rojas -Portilla made his field goal look easy as he booted the ball from the right hash mark on the Barringer 22 yard line in between the goal posts for a 32 yard attempt with just 12.7 seconds left in the game. Barringer tried one last attempt on offense but could not keep their rally caps on.
“We did the unthinkable this season,” said East Orange Head Coach Al-Hutchins. “We made the playoffs , we lost a couple games we clearly should have won, and escaped a few close calls. For that, ending our season 6-4 overall makes us think we’re on the right path. I said when I first started, we are about three years away and when we look to the future we are sure to bring our kids that state championship one day soon” he closed out. Both coaches said they will be devoting a lot of time to their linemen and have all their players in the weight room as well as having them running track and wrestling in the winter and spring. East Orange will be graduating nine seniors and most of them will be playing in college next fall. “We are excited for our program and we look forward to continue in the direction we are going” Hutchins concluded.
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