ORANGE, NJ — The Orange High School football team defeated Columbia, 22-14, Sept. 12, at Bell Stadium for its first win of the season and improved to 1-1.
The “Battle of the Oranges” was starting to look more like the “War of the Oranges” as Columbia High School made the short 10-minute trip up Scotland Road to Tornado Alley at Bell Stadium in Orange for a Thursday Night Lights edition this past week to face Orange High School. Both schools were coming off tough losses in the week prior and it would prove to be a rebound game for either squad as they both have fairly tough schedules ahead of them.
Columbia won against Newark West Side, 10-6, in a tough defensive battle at the Mountaineer Classic during Week 0, but dropped a 42-7 decision to Newark East Side in Week 1. They were without three key players due to injuries coming into Thursday’s game against the Tornadoes. Orange started the season with a goose egg in the win column. Week 0 had them going up against a highly-touted West Orange Mountaineer squad that hosted the Mountaineer Classic. The Mountaineers scored at will en route to a 48-0 win. The Tornadoes then made the trip to Irvington High School, losing, 42-18, before coming home for their home opener against the Cougars.
Columbia, led by senior athlete Andrew Randazza, made things interesting with the help of junior wide receiver Charlie Knutsen, sophomore running back Dylan Gilyard, senior tight end Will Walsh and junior wide receiver Colin Brandt.
Orange countered with sophomore quarterback Daniel Lewis, senior wide receivers Sameir Ward and Jaiden Louis, and senior running backs Therry Francois and Brandon Tejada.
But it would be Columbia setting the tone of the game, playing ball hog from the opening kickoff. They ran six plays to start the game before being forced to turn the ball over on downs. But they couldn’t wait their turn for the ball as sophomore defensive back Lawrence Hartman intercepted a pass from Lewis intended for senior wide receiver Terek Bentinck Jr. at the Tornadoes’ 35-yard line with 7:01 left in the first quarter. Randazza immediately hit Brandt for a quick five-yard pass. Brandt picked up an extra 15 free yards on a face-mask penalty, setting up back-to-back power runs of eight and two yards by Knutsen. Randazza capped the five-play drive with back-to-back quarterback sneaks to punch into the end zone from one yard out to go up 7-0 with 3:50 left in the first quarter.
Lewis countered with his own eight-play, 79-yard drive that started with 3:43 left in the first quarter and ended with 11:01 remaining in the second. Lewis fed the ball on the ground and through the air, going 1-for-2 during the series, while leading the rushing attack with a pair of big runs. The biggest came at the start of the second quarter with a call for his number to run through the teeth of the Cougars’ defense. When it looked like his attempt would get stuffed at the line of scrimmage, there was a big scrum with Orange’s frontline overpowering Columbia’s defensive front. The scrum moved forward, giving Lewis the momentum to bull through for a 42-yard explosive touchdown to pull within 7-6 after the failed point-after attempt.
“I kept telling my guys to push, keep pushing the pile and trust the process,” said Lewis after the game. He gave credit to the front line, as well as senior fullback Therry Francois who, in Lewis’ words, “lifted me up inside the pile until my feet were able to touch the ground again. After that, I knew I was out of there.”
The Cougars’ ball-hogging ways would once again be on display, with Randazza and Knutsen leading the charge. Randazza completed four passes out of an 18-play, run-heavy drive that started on their 15-yard line. The drive took the majority of the second quarter, keeping Orange’s young offense on the sidelines.
Knutzen filled in as running back for the day, keeping the Columbia ground game viable. He capped the long drive with a two-yard touchdown to give Columbia a 14-6 edge with 45 seconds left in the half.
Orange muffed an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, giving Columbia the ball on the Orange 32-yard line. But the Tornadoes’ defense was able to shut down any ideas Randazza and his Cougars had in a lobbing bomb for a late first-half score.
“We wanted to play our style of football after losing key players to injuries in the West Side and Newark East Side games,” said Columbia head coach Gary Mobley after the game.
Orange used the ball-hog method against Columbia when it got the ball to start the third quarter.
They kept possession of the ball for nearly nine minutes, mixing a healthy run and passes to drive the ball 74 yards for a three-yard touchdown by Therry Francios, who also scored the two-point conversion, which knotted the game at 14-14 late in the third quarter.
Orange became the benefactor of good fortune, as the Tornadoes hopped on a Columbia fumble with just 2:33 remaining in the third quarter on the Columbia 23-yard line. Lewis and company were looking to jump ahead for the first time in this season, going the short distance in six plays, finding Ward on a 15-yard connection that would set up Francois’ second short yardage touchdown of the evening with 10:43 left in the game with the 22-14 edge.
With the game on the line, Columbia commenced to keeping the ball out of Orange’s hands, with Randazza putting his squad on his back to make a last-ditch effort to force overtime in Tornado Alley. But his squad was forced to punt for the first time in the game. Orange would turn the ball back over to them on downs, giving the Cougars the perfect opportunity to continue to play keep away.
Orange got the ball back with 1:54 remaining in the game, but Columbia’s senior defensive linemen Zamire Lindsey and Elijah Svitavsky sacked Lewis and forced the ball back to Columbia with 0:49 left in the game.
For the next three plays, Randazza hit Will Walsh for a big 15-yard gain from their 35-yard line. He would spike the ball to stop the clock and then find Colin Brandt for 12 yards with 15 ticks and a first down.
Randazza went back to Brandt for another easy pitch-and-catch that had a clear path to a score. But Orange freshman defensive back Donovan Stokely stepped in for the game-saving interception, giving the Tornadoes their first victory on the season.
“We saw that they were playing keep away, which was smart,” said Orange head coach Khalfani Alleyne, who respected Columbia’s playing style. “We just had to make the necessary adjustments to put our team in the best possible position to win.”
Columbia will have a two-game home stand starting Sept. 20 at 6:30 p.m. against a reloaded Passaic Tech squad that nearly won it all last season. The Cougars will have to keep their ears pinned back the following weekend when the Blue Knights of Irvington come marching up Clinton Avenue.
Orange will be on the road Sept. 21 at 4 p.m. when the Tornadoes will head out to Jersey City to tangle with a tough Lincoln Lions squad.
The Tornadoes will come back home to face East Orange Campus in a highly-anticipated matchup that will get the neighborhood buzzing on Sept. 28. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. The game was rescheduled from Sept. 27.
Photos Courtesy of Kerry E. Porter
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