IRVINGTON, NJ — The Irvington High School football team has been one of the best in the area for several years.
This year’s Blue Knights appear poised to maintain that status.
Irvington returns a strong core from a 7-2 team that clinched a division title in the Super Essex Conference for the fourth consecutive year, going undefeated in the division in each of those seasons. The Blue Knights won the Liberty Red Division title last season after capturing the Freedom White Division title the previous three years. They are back in the Freedom White Division this season.
Since head coach Smoke Pierre took over the program in 2016, which was the inaugural year of the Super Football Conference, the Blue Knights have posted a 20-1 division record, including a current 16-game divisional winning streak. The lone division loss in that span came against Wayne Hills in 2016 in the final regular-season game.
The Blue Knights would like to win another division title. But more important, they want to win the North Group 4 state title this year. The state playoffs were canceled last year due to the pandemic.
This year’s senior team captains are offensive/defensive lineman Justin Evans, wide receiver Zaheem Crawford, quarterback Saquan Gordon and linebackers Lensley Therlonge and Isaiah Augustin.
“We’re ready for the season,” said Evans in an interview with the Irvington Herald.
“I feel like this team has a really great group of talented individuals. We have a lot of talent amongst the underclassmen. That’s a good look for us this year. With the great leaders and the great coaches that we have, we can win the state championship this year.”
Evans, a 6-foot-2, 290-pounder, has football scholarship offers from such schools as Kansas, Penn State, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia.
Gordon, a 6-foot-1, 170 pounder who started a few games last year, said the team has been working hard in getting ready for the season.
“We work harder than anywhere I have ever been,” said Gordon in an interview with the Irvington Herald. “We just have to keep working, keep grinding and stay together.”
Gordon has several talented receiving targets, led by Crawford, who helped the IHS boys basketball team and the boys track-and-field team to state sectional titles in 2020 and last spring, respectively. He now is hoping to add a third sectional title, in football.
“Everybody on this team works hard,” said Crawford in an interview with the Irvington Herald. “They all put in the work. We all want to see the same goal: the state championship. We can go as far as we want. We don’t give up in the middle of a play. We all go fight to the very end.”
Other receivers are 6-foot-5, 180-pound junior Famah Toure; junior Nasier Addison; and junior 6-foot, 200-pound Adon Shuler, who announced August 15 his commitment to accept a football scholarship from the University of Notre Dame.
Shuler is ranked No. 2, Addison is ranked No. 11 and Toure is ranked No. 13 in the state for the Class of 2023 by Rivals.com.
The ground game will be powered by 6-foot, 180-pound sophomore running back Vaboue Toure, Famah’s brother, who already has received interest from Mississippi, Boston College, Rutgers and West Virginia. Mohammad Diakite, a senior, is another key running back.
Defensively, Evans and 6-foot-4, 260-pound senior Nasier Shabazz will anchor the line. Therlonge and Augustin are the linebackers, while Shuler and senior Omar Jackson will lead the secondary.
Therlonge, as a captain, said he wants to lead by example. He credits the coaching staff for helping the team’s development.
“We are coached hard, and that really helps us to get to the next level,” he said in an interview with the Irvington Herald.
When asked about his team, Pierre could hardly contain his excitement.
“I love it,” he said with glee in an interview with the Irvington Herald. “It’s balanced. The numbers are great. We’re physical. I love it, man.”
Pierre, an Irvington native, has a 38-15 record in his five seasons at the helm.
The other teams in the Freedom White Division this season are Bayonne, Hudson Catholic, Kearny, North Bergen, Union City and Newark West Side.
From 2003 to 2019, the Blue Knights missed the postseason only three times, in 2010, 2011 and 2015. In program history, they have been to two state sectional finals, in 2006 and 2018, but lost both times, to New Brunswick and Phillipsburg, respectively.
Schedule
Sept. 3: at Mount Olive, 7 p.m.
Sept. 10: vs. Union City, 7 p.m.
Sept. 17: vs. Hudson Catholic, 7 p.m.
Sept. 24: at Newark West Side, 7 p.m.
Oct. 1: vs. Wayne Hills, 7 p.m.
Oct. 9: at DePaul, 1 p.m.
Oct. 16: vs. Ridgewood, 1 p.m.
Oct. 22: at Bayonne, 7 p.m.
Oct. 29: vs. West Orange, 7 p.m.
Irvington football boasts talented returning group added by Joe Ragozzino on
View all posts by Joe Ragozzino →