Reflecting on 1975 Irvington HS football team’s great run

IRVINGTON, NJ — The Irvington High School football program is considered one of the best in the state, boasting elite players. Many of the players have gone to major college programs.

For the past several seasons, the Blue Knights, under head coach Ashley “Smoke” Pierre, have produced conference championships and have made the state playoffs, year in and year out, including capturing their first state sectional title in 2021. That season, they went on to win the North Jersey regional title to finish an 11-2 campaign.

But it was in 1975 when Irvington football started to turn the corner. After struggling for so many years, that team, known as the Campers, qualified for the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s state sectional playoffs, in only the second year of the NJSIAA playoffs.

The team, under head coach Fred Manuel, featured several hard-working, blue collar-type players who performed with an “us against the world” mentality.

The Irvington High School Athletic Hall of Fame has recognized the 1975 team as part of the 2024 induction class.

One of those players on the team is John Schmidt, who was a senior offensive center and defensive middle guard. In a phone interview on Wednesday, Nov. 29, Schmidt, who was born in Irvington, shared his memories of that special team and season.

In the early 1970s, Irvington wasn’t a “football school,” Schmidt said. In fact, the school was more known for baseball and swimming, he said. The swimming program has since been disbanded. 

When Schmidt was on the freshman team, they went 1-6, beating Columbia in the final game. The Irvington players were particularly motivated after they found out that the Columbia coach told his team that “this would be the easiest win they will ever have,” Schmidt said.

The next year, Schmidt and his classmates were on the sophomore team that went 3-4. In their junior year, the JV team was 4-3.

The 1973 varsity team was 6-3, but needed a trick play on Thanksgiving Day to achieve its final record.

In 1974, the varsity team went 2-7, winning its final two games.

But the Campers carried that momentum into 1975, as they won their first six games.

The team featured 21 seniors, 14 who played all four years in the program, Schmidt said.

“That ’75 team was something special,” Schmidt said. “We ran off six in a row to start the year and we were pretty much the underdog in every game we played. When we got done with a 6-0 record, everybody said, ‘Hey, these guys aren’t that bad.’ We started getting ranked by the Star-Ledger and people started coming to the games in droves. The stands were packed, people were talking about us. It was a special team.”

Back then, the state sectional playoffs comprised just four teams. In the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 state sectional playoffs, Irvington faced Barringer, but lost a heartbreaking 7-6 decision. The difference was a missed two-point conversion by Irvington in the middle of the game. What was interesting about the game was the fact that Irvington held Barringer to only seven points. Barringer was averaging around 30 points a game, Schmidt said. The Campers finished 7-3. Barringer went on to beat Livingston, 14-13, in the championship game.

Throughout the season, the Irvington offense was all about the run game.

“We weren’t a high-scoring team,” Schmidt said. “We would grind it out. We had an all-state tackle (Tom Lisinicchia), we had a big fullback in Bobby Vorhies, and we had a tailback in Stanley Jones. We used to call Stanley ‘Juice’ and we used to call Bobby ‘Moose.’ It was the ‘Moose and Juice’ show. Stanley had breakaway speed and Bobby would pound the middle. He ended up going on to Virginia Tech on a scholarship.”

Vorhies, who also was one of the top shot putters in the state, died tragically while at Virginia Tech, Schmidt said.

Vorhies was a physically tough player. So was Lisinicchia.

“By the time he was a freshman, we knew he was going to be something special,” Schmidt said of Lisinicchia. “He was big and lean and all muscle, and he would push around those guys like they were bean bags. He broke into the varsity lineup in his junior year, and then senior year, he was just a beast.”

With Lisinicchia and the other linemen paving the way, the Campers would ground and pound opposing defenses. “We would hand the ball to Jones, hand the ball to Vorhies, and away we went.”

The quarterback on that team was Bobby Kennedy, a lefty thrower who was a great leader, Scmidt said.

One of the highlights of the season was when they defeated Montclair for the first time since 1959, with Jim Givas, a tight end, catching the game-winning touchdown pass.

But the big thing about the 1975 team was the defense, said Schmidt. The defensive tackles were Lisinicchia and Ed Doud, and the starting middle guard was Delmon Cannon, another strong player.

“He was the toughest, little, 150-something-pound guy you would ever meet,” Schmidt said of Cannon. “He would always go up against a guy who was four or five inches taller, 20 or 30 pounds heavier. He was a powerful dude. He was a smart player. Against Kearny, he saw a back trickle out of the backfield, with the quarterback rolling out, and instead of continuing to rush the passer, he dropped back into coverage and broke up a pass (intended for that player who was open). That was a 7-0 game that we won. The outcome would have been so much different if he didn’t make a play like that.” 

Cannon used his strength to become a standout on the IHS wrestling team. Schmidt recalled one time trying to wrestle Cannon in the wrestling room.  “I would beat guys heavier than me, (but) I couldn’t beat Delmon to save my life,” Schmidt said with a laugh. 

Cannon died on Nov. 14, 2018. He was 61. Interestingly, on the fifth-year anniversary of his death, it was announced that the 1975 team would be part of the 2024 IHS Athletic Hall of Fame induction class.

The linebackers were Vorhies and Reggie Kimbrough, who transferred in from a high school in Indiana. Kimbrough was the “fastest linebacker I ever saw in high school,” said Schmidt.

The free safety was Gary Way, who went on to become a corporate attorney for Nike.

Schmidt particularly praised Manuel as the head coach. He said Manuel helped the players grow into men.

Even after more than four decades, the players on that team, now in their 60s, remain close. 

When Irvington played Northern Highlands in the 2021 regional championship game at Rutgers University’s SHI Stadium, Schmidt was in attendance and was sitting in the stands with Doud.

The two shared memories, laughing and talking.

Schmidt, who graduated from Duquesne University and enjoyed careers in journalism and public relations, said he is “absolutely” attending the induction ceremony in May. He said he is frantically trying to connect with other former players via social media to notify them about the ceremony.

“Over the years, you remember the bonds,” said Schmidt. ”We were brothers. We see each other today and there are hugs, and some tears. We start talking and reminiscing about the ’75 season. When we get together, it’s like we never stopped talking.”

  Irvington High School football