West Orange rising senior and Rutgers University commit Sidney Padilla runs with the ball after make the catch.
WEST ORANGE — The West Orange High School football program hosted its annual Essex Shootout 7-on-7 on Saturday, July 11.
The event, organized by WOHS head football coach Darnell Grant, featured several schools competing on three different fields.
The 7-on-7 involved all passing plays, with each team needing to go 40 yards for a touchdown. Each game was 21 minutes with a running clock. There were no kicks for extra points. The extra-points were on pass plays. Two points were awarded on a pass from the 10-yard line and one point for a pass at the 5-yard line.
West Orange had two teams – an A squad and a B squad.
After pool play, there was a tournament for the East Bracket and the West Bracket, with eight teams each.
West Orange was in the East Bracket. The B squad lost to Eagle Academy, of Brooklyn, N.Y; and the A squad defeated Franklin in the first round. In the next round, which was the semifinals, the A squad lost to Eagle Academy by one point.
West Orange scored a touchdown and then went for the game-winning two-point conversion on the final play of the game. But the two-point pass to Rutgers 6-foot-5 commit Sydney Padilla fell incomplete in the middle of the end zone, as he was covered by an EA defender. The West Orange players and coaches yelled for a pass interference call, to no avail.
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EA went on to defeat Bayonne in the East final, setting up the championship against West champion Cedar Grove, which beat North Plainfield in the West final.
The championship game went back-and-forth, before Cedar Grove scored a touchdown to take the lead as time expired. But the officials decided to put 5 seconds on the clock for EA for one last play. On that last play fron the 40-yard line, the EA quarterback heaved the deep pass, with a receiver making the dramatic catch in the corner of the end zone to win the championship.
Cedar Grove parents were furious. They immediately left their seats in the stands, went to the fence by the track and angrily confronted the officials about the decision to give more time to EA.
WOHS athletic director Stephan Zichella once again served as the public address announcer.
WOHS is getting ready for preseason practice. In each of the last two seasons, the Mountaineers finished 9-3 as runner-up in the North 1, Group 5 state sectional playoffs.
Photos by Joe Ragozzino
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