EAST ORANGE, NJ — The East Orange Campus High School football team defeated Columbia, 46-14, Friday night, Oct. 25, at Paul Robeson Stadium on Homecoming. This marks the 18th Homecoming in the school’s young history, where the crowning of Homecoming King and Queen and their court took center stage at this year’s game between the Columbia Cougars and East Orange Campus.
The Jaguars improved to 6-1 overall and 5-0 in the Super Football Conference-Liberty Blue Division. Columbia fell to 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the division.
In addition, EOCHS clinched the divisional title for the second year in a row. This season, they clinched the title outright after sharing the title with Montclair last season.
“We want to win,” Columbia head coach Gary Mobley said before the game.
The Columbia Cougars were coming in with a hot hand. They shocked many of the division foes when they beat Bayonne in a close 10-7 non-division decision at Bayonne’s Veteran Memorial Stadium in Bayonne on Oct. 19. Mobley stated that they quietly changed the landscape that garnered them five wins on the season, but couldn’t get past West Orange (35-0 loss) and Montclair (44-7 loss). “We are the 16 seed currently going into the (state sectional) playoffs,” he said before kickoff. “I will hope that we can continue to show what we are made of.”
But the EOCHS Jaguars didn’t waste time putting points on their new scoreboard. The Cougars won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, giving East Orange the perfect opportunity to hit the gas. East Orange running back Bryant Manuel got it going early, breaking the first of his three big runs for 33 yards where the Jags burned almost five-and-a half minutes going 70 yards with Matthew Ziao punching in for the three-yard opening score and the following two-point conversion for the 8-0 lead.
It wouldn’t take long for the Jaguars’ defense to get in on the fun. Led by Keshawn Munford, Ian Brown, Quadir Scott and Locksley Burke, the Cougars offense, led by quarterback Nick Aaron, faced a tough challenge. Brown stepped in the zone from his safety position and intercepted Aaron’s pass, going 50 yards for a pick-6 with 5:25 in the first quarter and a 14-0 lead.
The Jags punctuated their statement when Manuel again found open space through the Cougars’ defense, going 39 yards and setting up an eventual 17-yard slide into the house for a 20-0 lead with 37 ticks left in the first quarter.
By the second quarter, the Jags built a hefty 39-0 lead. Scott completed two quick passes to start the quarter; hitting his receivers, Ian Brown and Jasim Brown, no relation, for a combined 37 yards, including a 12-yard pitch-and-catch to Ian for the 27-0 lead with 7:52 left in the half. Scott found the other Brown for a 15-yard dart, stretching the lead way out of reach, 33-0, with 3:36 left. Ninety-six seconds later, Manuel (8 carries for 140 yards, 1 TD) struck again when he gutted the Cougars’ defense for a 45-yard touchdown run.
But the Cougars found a little life with just a minute left in the half. Led by Aaron, they moved the ball 63 yards in eight plays. Aaron called his own number, scampering on a 12-yard quarterback draw play with the Jaguars’ defense in hot pursuit.
The third quarter saw the Jaguars’ defense continue to flex its will when lineman Munford registered his second sack of the night and blocked a punt where he scooped the ball, but was tackled attempting to score. But it only set up another Scott to Jasim Brown 19-yard pitch-and-catch where Brown would walk into the end zone untouched for the 46-7 lead.
“Let everyone know that East Orange football is back,” said an exuberant Scott, who finished the night 8 of 10 passing for 103 yards and three touchdowns while rushing five times for 53 yards. Munford finished 2-of-4 in point-after attempts but had a busy night on defense. He finished with two sacks, four hurries, nine tackles, a blocked punt and a recovery. Burke made his presence felt with 10 tackles.
The Cougars found the end zone again late in the fourth quarter. Aaron flipped a screen to wide receiver Fred Holdbrook, who danced along the East Orange sideline 32 yards for the final touchdown of the night.
The Jaguars won the divisional championship outright for the first time since the Marion Bell head coaching era in 2007-2012 during which they reached two sectional finals, beating Montclair, 38-12, at the former Giants Stadium in 2007 and losing to Roxbury in the final year of Giants Stadium in 2009.
The Jaguars will face the Bloomfield Bengals this Friday evening, Nov. 1, at Bloomfield’s Foley Field. “We have nothing but respect for (Columbia) coach Mobley,” said East Orange head coach Rae Oliver. “We knew he was going to put up a tough fight, but we also knew how our kids will respond. We are EO.”
Mobley felt that East Orange executed its game plan and congratulated the Jaguars on clinching the title.
Columbia is one of the few high schools that do not have a direct feeder system from youth football programs. “We are in talks with the (Maplewood and South Orange communities) to get it going again,” he said.
Columbia will play its final regular-season game against Livingston at Livingston High School on Friday evening, Nov. 1, before moving over to the new Ivy Division starting next year.
“We came here and played a great game, but we can’t let that fool us,” Oliver said. “We still have Bloomfield and they are on the clock. We expect them to come out swinging and playing their best football.” Oliver noted that Bloomfield head coach Mike Carter’s squad is a lot better than what its 0-8 record indicates. “He’s had several winning squads over the years and I respect him a lot,” Oliver said of Carter. Bloomfield will be looking to gain its first win of the season after scoring a total 54 points while allowing 257 points this season. East Orange has given up a total of 65 points while racking up a whopping 219 all season. Of the 65 points, the Jaguars have not given up more than 14 points, with the exception of Seton Hall Prep in the 31-12 loss on Oct. 5 at Brian P. Tevlin Memorial Field in West Orange.
Photos by Kerry E. Porter
East Orange Campus (red uniforms) vs. Columbia
East Orange Campus HS football team defeats Columbia; clinches divisional title added by Kerry E. Porter on
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