Irvington HS football team gears up for North, Group 4, regional final vs. Northern Highlands at Rutgers

The Blue Knights raise their helmets as they get ready to play Middletown South in the North 2, Group 4, championship game at IHS on Nov. 19.

IRVINGTON, NJ – Coming off its first-ever state sectional championship, the Irvington High School football team will close out its stellar season when it faces Northern Highlands in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North, Group 4, championship game at Rutgers University’s SHI Stadium in Piscataway on Saturday, Dec. 4, at 4 p.m.

The Blue Knights, under sixth-year head coach Ashley “Smoke” Pierre, are 10-2 on the season and riding a six-game winning streak.

Irvington, the No. 1 seed, defeated second-seeded Middletown South, 28-13, in the NJSIAA’s North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4, championship game at IHS on Friday, Nov. 19. It was the program’s third-ever state championship game and the first one hosted by IHS.

Northern Highlands defeated Ramapo, 35-30, on a last-minute touchdown pass in the North 1, Group 4, championship on Friday, Nov. 26, at home in Allendale to improve to 12-0 on the season. Ramapo, which ended at 10-2 this season, was playing its first game since the sudden death of its longtime head coach Drew Gibbs, who collapsed during a practice session on Monday, Nov. 15, a few days after the team’s semifinal win over Ridge.

The Blue Knights’ No. 1 goal this season was to win the program’s first sectional championship. IHS junior safety Adon Shuler said it feels great to have achieved that goal, noting that he had faith in the guidance of the coaching staff and in his teammates.

“To get there was a big thing, but getting there and winning, it’s an unbelievable feeling,” said Shuler in a phone interview on Nov. 26. “I talked about it, dreamed about it and it happened. At first, it didn’t even seem real, until my coach showed me the ring design. I was like, ‘Wow, we really won a state championship.’ That was something really good.”

Shuler, who gave a verbal commitment to play at the University of Notre Dame back in August, is looking forward to playing in the North, Group 4, championship and playing for the final time with the seniors who have been influential to him. Among those seniors are quarterback Saquan Gordon; receivers Zaheem Crawford-Patterson and Trenton Jones; defensive end Tafari Thompson; defensive linemen Justin Evans-Jenkins, Nasir Shabazz and Zamar Grove; linebackers Stanley Corneille, Isaiah Augustin and Lensley Therlonge, fellow defensive backs Mohammed Diakite, Omar Jackson and Raheem Wright; offensive center Jeffrey Gunn; offensive guard Jose Cristales; and kicker Anthony Ellis. Wright also plays running back and Evan-Jenkins is also an offensive tackle.

“Unfortunately, it’s going to be the last time I am going to be able to play with the seniors for this year,” Shuler said. “I’ve built a really strong relationship with them over the last few years. It’s sad, but they will go on to college and stuff.”

The Blue Knights played in their first-ever sectional championship game in 2006, when they lost to New Brunswick in the North 2, Group 3, final at Rutgers in Darnell Grant’s fifth year as the IHS head coach.

In 2018, the Blue Knights lost at Phillipsburg in the North 2, Group 4, championship in Pierre’s third season at the helm.

The Blue Knights are looking for revenge against Northern Highlands, which beat Irvington in the North 1, Group 4, playoff semifinals in 2019, the last time the playoffs were held before this season. Last season’s playoffs were canceled due to the pandemic.

Notes:

• Grant is a 1991 IHS graduate and completed his third season as the head coach at West Orange High School this fall, leading the Mountaineers to a 7-4 record. They lost to East Orange in the North 1, Group 4 semifinals. In Grant’s second year at Irvington in 2003, the Blue Knights qualified for the state sectional playoffs for the first time since 1975. The current playoff format began in 1974. In 2003, the Blue Knights were the No. 1 seed in North 2, Group 4, but lost to Piscataway in the first round. In eight seasons as the IHS head coach, from 2002 to 2009, Grant had a 64-21 record, leading the Blue Knights to the playoffs in his final seven seasons. After leaving Irvington, Grant became the head coach at Shabazz from 2010 to 2018, where he led the Newark school to five state sectional games and three state sectional titles. Grant returned to Irvington for the first time as an opposing coach when West Orange visited Irvington on Oct 29, with Irvington winning the Super Football Conference crossover game by a score of 21-7 in the final regular season game.

• The Blue Knights won a Super Football Conference divisional title for the fifth consecutive season this fall, capturing the SFC–Freedom White Division championship with a 4-0 division record. In fact, the Blue Knights have gone undefeated in divisional play in each of the past five seasons, extending their divisional winning streak to 20 games. In the Freedom White Division, they were 5-0 in 2017 and 4-0 in both 2018 and 2019. They were 3-0 in the Liberty Red Division in 2020.

Irvington 2021 results

• Sept. 3: loss at Mount Olive, 2-0.

• Sept. 10: win vs. Union City, 22-6.

• Sept. 17: win vs. Hudson Catholic, 32-26, overtime.

• Sept. 25: win at Newark West Side, 28-0.

• Oct. 2: win Wayne Hills, 21-16.

• Oct. 9: loss at DePaul, 21-0.

• Oct. 16: win vs. Ridgewood, 7-0.

• Oct. 22: win at Bayonne, 53-27.

• Oct. 29: win vs. West Orange, 21-7.

• Nov. 5, win vs. No. 8 seed Linden, 11-6, quarterfinals.*

• Nov. 12, win vs. No. 5 seed Colonia, 14-7, semifinals.*