IRVINGTON, NJ — The Irvington High School football team made an emphatic statement.
The Blue Knights defeated a strong Passaic County Tech team 24-21 on Saturday, Oct. 12, at IHS’ Ralph C. Steele Sports Complex/Matthew Field.
The victory boosted the Blue Knights’ state sectional playoff hopes, as they won their second straight game to improve to 3-2 on the season.
Passaic County Tech lost its second straight game to fall to 5-2.
The Blue Knights, under first-year head coach Marco Soto, gained 21 power points based on the win. Irvington is No. 10 in the Group 5 United Power Rankings standings. The top 16 teams will clinch berths in the North 1 and North 2 state sectional playoffs for Group 5.
Irvington will visit Union City on Friday, Oct. 18, and host Newark East Side on Friday, Oct. 25, in the regular season finale.
Union City, which is 5-1, is No. 2 in the Group 5 UPR standings. A win over Union City will give the Blue Knights plenty of power points. PCT meanwhile is No. 3 in the standings.
In the win over PCT, junior Jayden Herron rushed for 150 yards and a touchdown on just seven carries. Sophomore quarterback Jahmir Howell rushed for 84 yards and two TDs on 11 carries and he passed for 51 yards and a score on nine of 15 attempts.
Junior Najohn Eley had five carries for 20 yards, senior Cedric Raymond had four catches for 25 yards and a TD and Herron had three catches for 18 yards.