WEST ORANGE, NJ — West Orange High School football fans were excited when Darnell Grant became the Mountaineers’ head coach in 2019. Grant had spent the previous nine seasons as the Shabazz head coach, guiding the Newark school to five North 2, Group 1, state final appearances and winning it three times.
After advancing to the North Group 5 semifinals and finishing 7-4 in Grant’s first year at the helm, the Mountaineers went 6-1 last season, including winning the Liberty White Division title of the Super Football Conference with a 5-0 division mark.
Grant and his team strongly believed they could have won a state title in 2020. But the postseason was canceled due to the pandemic. Grant believed his team was the best public Group 5 team in the state. The results support Grant’s claim. After losing to St. Peter’s Prep 62-21 in the season opener, the Mountaineers won their final six games. They posted two shutouts and allowed just seven points in two games and six points in one game, before defeating Clifton, 27-14, in the season finale. In the six wins, the Mountaineers averaged 37.3 points a game and allowed just 5.7 points a game.
“Football is about opportunities,” said Grant in an interview with the West Orange Chronicle. “You only get so many good chances and opportunities to have a real special team. We had a real special group last year.”
The Mountaineers have another talented squad this season, raising hopes that they can reach their first-ever state title game and win the North Group 5 championship.
“I think we have just as good of a chance to have a really good competitive team,” Grant said. “We’re excited about the athletes that we have in the group.”
Among the key offensive players are 6-foot-3, 200-pound senior wide receiver/safety Jared Massay; senior quarterback Zander Lipsey; senior three-year starting slotback Mahki Green; and junior running back Jekhi Williams.
Lipsey feels the Mountaineers can have an explosive offense again.
“I think we have a really talented offense this year, really well-rounded,” Lipsey said in an interview with the West Orange Chronicle. “We can run the ball, pass the ball, and I think coach Grant is great. He knows what to call, and he puts us in the right spot and letting us execute.”
The notable linemen are 6-foot-3, 260-pound three-year starting senior tackle Joshua Philemon; 6-foot-3, 310-pound senior guard Quayon Gordon; 6-foot, 250-pound junior Mason Molloy; 6-foot-3, 320-pound junior guard Jay Straker; and junior tackle Brandon Green.
Defensively, the leaders will be senior four-year starting linebacker/safety Matt Bove and senior safety Gavin Rembert.
In interviews with the West Orange Chronicle, some of the players talked about the upcoming season and what it means to play for the Mountaineers.
“We are a talented bunch,” Philemon said. “I think that we’re ready, and I think we should go undefeated. I don’t think we will have any problems. We all know each other. We’re a family, and we are ready to go to war together.”
Said Massay: “We all know our jobs, and we all know each other. We’ve been playing for years now. We have a lot of talent, and we feel we can do something this season.”
Makhi Green said the team chemistry will prove crucial to its success.
“We all grew up together, playing together since little league,” Makhi Green said. “The environment around the team is amazing. We have everybody energetic all the time. We’re just ready to come out and do great.”
Bove echoed those sentiments.
“What I like about this year’s team is our camaraderie,” said Bove, who also is a highly regarded baseball player. “We’re like a big family. We have amazing talent. Even if another team has more talent than we do, we have the heart and camaraderie to come together and beat that team.”
Executing their roles also will help the Mountaineers in their quest to have another great season.
“I think we all have to stay disciplined,” Rembert said. “If we follow our assignments, I think we can have a really promising year. When everybody does their own thing, we get discombobulated and then we start losing. But if we all stay together as one and follow our directions, I think we are going to have a really strong year this year.”
Senior outside linebacker Jameer Brutus said the defense has picked up where it left off last season.
“On defense as a whole, we’ve been playing very great,” Brutus said. “We’re fulfilling our assignments and we’re expecting to have a great defensive year this year. Overall, it’s just a talented defense.”
Like last season, teams will be bracing for the unexpected as they continue to deal with the pandemic.
“We have to take it day by day and week by week,” Grant said. “If COVID has taught us anything, it’s that anything is adjustable. We have to be flexible and be ready for whatever happens.”
Nevertheless, Grant is looking forward to having a full season, with playoffs.
“We have to execute at a high level,” he said. “We have to play for each other. We have to sacrifice and jell as a team, and we’ll be on our way.”
West Orange has moved to the Freedom Red Division, which includes Bloomfield, Columbia, East Orange Campus, Livingston, Montclair and Newark East Side.
The Mountaineers will kick off the season against St. Peter’s Prep on Sept. 3 at Montclair State University. West Orange will visit Irvington on Oct. 29, as Grant faces his alma mater. Grant, a 1991 Irvington graduate, was the head coach at Irvington from 2002 to 2009; he guided the Blue Knights to the playoffs in his final seven seasons, a run that included the program’s first-ever state final, in 2006.
Schedule
Sept. 3: vs. St. Peter’s Prep, at Montclair State University, 6:15 p.m.
Sept. 10: vs. Newark East Side, 7 p.m.
Sept. 17: at Livingston, 7 p.m.
Sept. 24: vs. East Orange Campus, 7 p.m.
Oct. 1: at Columbia, 7 p.m.
Oct. 8: at Union City, 7 p.m.
Oct. 15: vs. Montclair, 7 p.m.
Oct. 22: vs. Bloomfield, 7 p.m.
Oct. 29: at Irvington, 7 p.m.
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