Glen Ridge HS senior offensive lineman Jake Russell to play in Phil Simms New Jersey North/South All-Star Football Classic in June at Kean

Jake Russell is shown during a signing ceremony in February. Russell signed with Valparaiso University in Indiana. (Photo by Joe Ragozzino).
First-year head coach Manj Singh holds up the championship plague as his team celebrates. Jake Russell, No. 77, is shown. (Photo Courtesy of Brianne Aumack).

GLEN RIDGE, NJ — Glen Ridge High School senior offensive lineman Jake Russell has been selected to play in the 42nd Phil Simms New Jersey North/South All-Star Football Classic on Sunday, June 11, at Kean University in Union.

The all-star game features some of the best senior high school football players in the state.

Russell, a 6-foot-3, 280-pound lineman, helped lead the Ridgers to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Group 1 regional invitational tournament championship. The Ridgers, under first-year head coach Manj Sing, defeated Hawthorne High School 36-13 in the regional championship game at Hurrell Field, capping a 5-5 season that included winning their final three games. The regional tournaments consisted of teams that barely missed qualifying for the NJSIAA state playoffs.

Russell signed a national letter of intent on Feb. 1 accepting a football scholarship to Division 1-AA Valparaiso University in Indiana.