ORANGE, NJ — For Orange High School head football coach Khalfani Alleyne and his Tornadoe, it was nothing more than a slight delay of game play when their game against the Patriots of Wayne Hills High School was pushed back from this past Friday evening (Aug. 25) due to weather concerns to Saturday afternoon (Aug. 26) with a 6 p.m. kickoff time. But that was all they had to worry about as they showed up with a storm of their own. The Patriots were blown away by the Tornadoes in all facets of the game. Orange was led by one of the state’s leading dual threat quarterbacks, Maurice Williams, along with his arsenal of receivers and backs in Shamar Myers, Ma’khy Acey, Samir Wilkins, Sameir Ward, and Brandon Tejada. They all combined on a total of 6 touchdowns on the night to Wayne Hills’ lone touchdown.
The Tornadoes would get the ball first in the opening quarter and proceeded to make the Patriots pay for the early mistake. Orange’s opening drive took just under three minutes going 53 yards in 6 plays where Williams would cap off the drive with a 5-yard skip to the house taking the early 6-0 lead with 9:04 in the first quarter. The Patriots would have trouble with Orange’s stingy defense all night led by senior offensive and defensive lineman Christian Brewster, who was in the middle of all the action keeping Wayne Hills auarterback Aaron Viray out of the end zone by going 5 for 15 on 11 yards and 2 interceptions with no passing touchdowns. The Tornadoes struck again in the first quarter where they went on a 59-yard drive with Williams tossing his first of five passing touchdowns to Samir Wilkins on a 69-yard bomb stretching the lead to 14-0 after the two-point conversion with 3:57 left in the first quarter. The Patriots would muster up a decent drive to carry into the second quarter.
Viray would lead the Patriot to a 63-yard drive, feeding Jonnie Mongelli the ball to punch in from 1 yard out. The Patriots would miss the PAT kick but temporarily bring the game within a touchdown 14-6 with 9:52 left in the second quarter. But that was all they could muster on the scoreboard as Williams would continue to put on a clinic with Acey, who finished with 10 receptions for 170 yards and 3 touchdowns. One of Acey’s biggest snags was for 45 yards, setting up Wilkins’ second 10-yard touchdown to put Orange ahead 22-6, capping a 69-yard touchdown with 7:01 left in the half. Williams and Acey would hook up for a touchdown after they initially punted to Wayne Hills’ 24-yard line and then intercepted a Viray pass for a 3-yard return. Acey would snag a 21-yard touchdown with 1:12 left in the half. Orange would force a turnover on downs again to get the ball back again with 40.1 seconds left. Williams would flip the ball 40 yards to Wilkins, who was tackled by a host of Patriots defenders at the Wayne Hills 23-yard line. But time ran out before Orange could capitalize on another score.
With the third quarter, Wayne Hills took the opening kickoff and immediately got stuffed. The Tornadoes were definitely spinning all over the field, combining 26 tackles, 6.5 sacks, an estimated 5 pass breakups and 1 interception on the day. Williams continued his senior debut with another touchdown through the air. He took his squad 43 yards in 5 plays, capping off with a 19-yard strike to Acey to make the 34-6 with 9:22 left on the clock in the third quarter. The Patriots couldn’t sustain their next possession as they were marred by traded punts and a fumble in which Orange would pounce on it, but would eventually punt the ball away giving Wayne Hills their first break when the ball landed at the Tornadoes 30-yard line. Patriots running back Jonnie Mongelli kept running into a brick wall as Wayne Hills decided for a pass on a fourth-and-8t play. Taking the gamble, Patriots quarterback Aaron Viray would try to thread the needle to one of his receivers, but Acey, from his defensive back position, slid behind the play to pick the Patriots’ pocket, setting up the final scoring drive in the fourth quarter.
Acey electrified the Patriots defense as they would not have an answer for him. Williams would have an easy time directing traffic through the open passing lanes as he found Ward for a 17-yard pitch-and-catch, then followed up with a 24-yard strike to Acey for the third time of the game. Orange would close the game out with a final score of 42-6 to take Week 0.
Alleyne was more than pleased with his squad’s performance. He didn’t have much to say as he basically told his team to enjoy the win, then it’s back to the lab and to maintain what he calls “the O mindset”. Wayne Hills head coach Wayne Demikoff was visibly shocked at what happened during the game. “We are a relatively young team this season,” he said. “We have to do better seeing that we have a tough schedule this season.” Wayne Hills will head out of state to Springfield, Pennsylvania, to face one of the perennial Philadelphia Catholic League powers, the Lions of Cardinal O’Hara High School on Friday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m.. Orange will remain on the road this weekend as they will face Paterson Eastside in Paterson. The game will also kickoff Friday evening, Sept. 1, at 5 p.m.
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