WEST ORANGE, NJ — The fourth-seeded East Orange Campus High School football team defeated No. 2 seed West Orange, 13-7, in the championship game of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 1, Group 5 state playoffs on Friday night, Nov. 15, at WOHS’ Joe Suriano Stadium.
The EOCHS Jaguars improved to 9-2 on the season. They will visit Section 2 champion Union City in the Group 5 state semifinal on Friday, Nov. 22, at Union City’s Roosevelt Stadium. Union City has won 10 straight games to improve to 10-1.
It was worth the price of admission at Suriano Stadium, which had a packed house with families, former youth teammates, school pride and, of course, a sectional high school football title game.
The two teams met on Oct. 19 in Week 7. The “War of the Oranges” game came down to a late touchdown and interception by West Orange High School’s David Moore Jr. and I’yan Gainer in a game that ended up in a 7-0 decision in favor of the WO Mountaineers at Paul Robeson Stadium in East Orange.
“I won’t be surprised if it comes down to us and East Orange in the playoffs,” said West Orange head coach Darnell Grant before that game. At the time,
they were playing for the Super Football Conference–Freedom Red Division championship.
But on Friday, it was for much more.
West Orange won the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey Section 1, Group 5 state playoff championship in 2022. East Orange won the North Jersey, Section 1, Group 5 state playoff title in 2021 and won the state Group 5 regional championship to finish 13-0.
East Orange was on a hot streak since that Oct. 19 meeting, winning three straight, including the quarterfinal rematch against Montclair and the near shutout of Ridgewood in the semifinal. West Orange was on a tear since that week, winning five straight and outscoring its opponents, 144-33, which included a 35-0 shutout over perennial power Piscataway in the semifinals. “We had a lot of chatter between us,” said East Orange quarterback Sa’eed Cole with a smile after Friday’s game. ”It was all good healthy chatter since we all know each other from playing youth football and growing up together.” East Orange wide receiver Alex Hanks said it best after the game. “I play where they need me and I just make sure that I am successful on both sides of the ball,” he said.
But the game would not have been up to the standards of both rivals if it weren’t for some in-game hijinx and gamesmanship. West Orange had won the coin toss at the start of the game, but elected to defer to the second half. East Orange, preparing to take the opening kickoff, was expecting to start the game, but West Orange pulled a fast one, kicking an onside kick to start the game that gave them the ball at the East Orange 30-yard line. East Orange’s stingy defense, led by Hanks, Alvins Collin, Wazyn King, Esa Wittenberg, Shakur Taylor and Robert Minter, had to punch their timecards and got to work early, shutting down West Orange’s attempt to gain an early lead. West Orange was without their senior signal caller, Charlie LaMorte, who fractured his elbow in the first game against East Orange. West Orange had his backup QB, Brandon LaBanca, fill in for the remainder of the season. He was looking for his big target, Terrell Wilfong, early, but the Jags broke up the potential scoring play to set the tone of the game. It was enough for the crowd to settle in, with both schools bands playing top songs like Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” while aerial and ground warfare played out in front of them. East Orange would take the ball from its own 25-yard line on its first possession and promptly marched down 69 yards, with Cole leading the charge with the help from RB Tyshawn Sewell and Shaler Jackson III, WR Taylor and Hanks. The Jaguars took their time killing the clock in the opening quarter, but West Orange LB Christopher Barrino had something to say when he purposely stepped in front of Hanks to intercept a 4-yard scoring pass from Cole to stop the close call going into the second quarter, returning it to the East Orange 48-yard line. But the Mountaineers were hit with a 10-yard holding call that backed them up to their 42-yard line with 1:18 left in the opening quarter. Again the Jaguars’ no-fly zone was on full display and limited West Orange RB Farad Green to 11 yards on the five-play drive to start the second quarter.
East Orange forced a punt to start its next possession at its own 20-yard line, making the 80-yard, 14-play look purposeful and methodical. Cole, Sewall and Taylor split the rushing duties, while completing two of his three passes to Hanks and just barely missing WR Samaj Toney-El. The two passes thrown to Hanks were for 38 yards and a 13-yard bullet to open the 6-0 scoring after a blocked extra point with 2:11 remaining in the first half. Again, the Mountaineers leaned on Green after the ensuing kickoff pinned them on their 4-yard line with 2:09 remaining in the first half. The gamesmanship started on a late fourth-and-long situation where each team called timeouts before West Orange punted to end the first half.
The heavyweight grudge match continued with a new vigor for the Mountaineers as they started the third quarter. LaBanca, with the help of Green, Moore and Wilfong, along with Gainer and EahJay McAdams, made quick work of a 12-play 70-yard drive, with Green punching in from 6 yards to gain the 7-6 edge over the Jags with 7:33 left. But West Orange had their hands in the Jaguars’ back pocket again on the ensuing kickoff. They pounced on their second onside kick of the evening, leaving the Jaguars wondering how the Mountaineers were able to surprise them again. But East Orange’s defense came roaring back, forced the ball back to its offense with a turnover on downs. Trading punts was the name of the game for the remainder of the third quarter. But in the last 3:40 remaining of the quarter, West Orange would find its groove, starting from the East Orange 47-yard line. LaBanca fed the ball to Green seven times for 43 yards, steadily pushing their way deep into Jaguar territory. But the Jags were able to hold the push when two consecutive passes to Wilfong went incomplete, giving the Jags the perfect opportunity to take over with 11:49 remaining in the final quarter.
Cole took the liberty of starting from the Jaguars’ 3-yard line. The Mountaineers needed a sack or a safety to stay ahead in the turnover battle, but Cole’s heady running gave them an aspect that forced them to think twice. He found Hanks on a quick slant, like he was studying for a big geometry test. Hanks caught the bullet in stride while hitting the express toward the Livingston mall to get his early ring order, going 92 yards for the TD with 10:03 remaining in the game. The 13-6 stretch would put a fire in the Mountaineers’ belly, as they knew the trip to the regional semifinal was at stake. Much like the Week 7 game, starting from their 45-yard line, LaBanca found Wilfong streaking up the West Orange sidelines for a big 24-yard gain, then fed Green for back-to-back rushes for 10 and 4 yards, respectively. Just like that, West Orange was attempting to kick in the back door from inside the Jaguars’ 15-yard line. LaBanca had been trying to get Wilfong all night, but East Orange defensive back Shakur Taylor and Toney-El were all over him. LaBanca threw up a prayer, but Taylor would step in the way for East Orange’s 12th interception on the season, denying Wilfong and company a much-needed score in the end zone, for a touchback. East Orange would bleed the clock with its potent rushing attack, starting at its 20-yard line and advancing the ball to the West Orange 30-yard line, where East Orange would call its final timeout, since West Orange had used all of its timeouts with 33 ticks left on the clock. The celebration started after the Jaguars went to their victory formation where the team made a point to hoist the North Jersey, Section 1 Group 5 championship trophy, as the final whistle came across and East Orange fans rushed the field.
“You all know what I’m going to say,” said East Orange John Jacob to his team. “When we execute everything that we set our minds to do, nobody can stop us but ourselves. Look at what you accomplished and look at the result of that accomplishment. You did that! Now, we have another one coming up, but for now, let’s enjoy it!” he exclaimed as he threw up the shark sign that got its start with the 2021 championship team that included current University of Pittsburgh LB Kyle Louis, who has taken the shark fin to new heights. “I knew nobody was going to catch me once I got the ball,” said Hanks, who caught three passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns, while his defense held Wilfong to four receptions and 47 yards. Hanks was out for a few weeks due to an injury that he sustained in the beginning of the season. “It is tremendous in what he was able to do in that amount of time,” said Jacob, who made it clear that Hanks was all in, even when he was recovering, and never missed a practice while being clutch in their games, since the loss to West Orange back in October.
“We were without our quarterback, Charlie LaMorte,” said Wilfong. “This is our last year and it was Charlie’s goal to win a high school championship. We really wanted to get that for him since he was out with his injury.”
Wilfong will be heading to Syracuse University next fall to continue his football career, looking to major in criminal justice. “Although we didn’t get the win, I think this experience helped us prepare for our futures, knowing that we can’t have everything to be given to us. We have to go get it and earn everything we have,” Wilfong said.
“It was another tough game,” said Grant. “We had two opportunities to get scores after getting the onside kicks, but their defense was on point, keeping us from capitalizing on their mistakes.” Grant is no stranger to big games from his time with Irvington and Shabazz. It marked the second time in Grant’s six years that the two schools met in the sectional playoffs, battling in low-scoring affairs. “No matter how you look at it,” he said, “whenever you have either one of our schools in the mix, it’s going to be a tough out.
“I have to give it to them; they are doing a great job over there. I just wish we scored on those opportunities.”
West Orange was looking forward to a rematch against Union City since it lost to them, 20-14, in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 semifinal last year that was hotly-contested at Union City’s Roosevelt Stadium, better known as “The Rooftop”.
Union City has been on a tear all season, running its vaunted Wing–T offense that outscored opponents, 428-107.
East Orange Campus (9-2)
- Sept. 7: win, vs. Livingston, 33-26
- Sept. 13: win, at Newark East Side, 20-0
- Sept. 21: loss, vs. Montclair, 19-12
- Sept. 28: win, at Orange, 27-0
- Oct. 4: win, at Bloomfield, 38-0
- Oct. 11: win, at Paterson Eastside, 41-3
- Oct. 19: loss, vs. West Orange, 7-0
- Oct. 26: win, vs. Clifton, 47-18
- Nov. 2: win, vs. (5) Montclair, 28-14, quarterfinals*
- Nov. 8: win, at (1) Ridgewood, 14-3, semifinals*
- Nov. 15: win, at (2) West Orange, 13-7, final*
*North Jersey, Section 1, Group 5 playoffs (EOC is No. 4 seed)
Photos Courtesy of Kerry E. Porter
For more coverage of this event, go to: https://ksportinc1.smugmug.com/NJSIAA-North-Jersey-Section-1-Group-5-Sectional-Championship.
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