West Orange HS football Mountaineers fall to Passaic County Tech in defensive battle for their first loss of season

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WEST ORANGE, NJ — The West Orange High School football team had its first loss of the season, falling to Passaic County Tech, 12-6, on Friday night, Sept. 16, in the Mountaineers’ home opener at WOHS’ Joe Suriano Stadium.

The Mountaineers moved to 2-1 on the season. Passaic County Tech improved to 4-0.

Passaic County Tech took a 6-0 lead in the first quarter on a 3-yard touchdown pass. In the fourth quarter, PCT extended the lead to 12-0 on a 1-yard touchdown run.

The Mountaineers got back into the game as senior quarterback Quran Ali threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Saboor Karriem to cut it 12-6.

Ali completed 11 of 20 passes for 94 yards and the touchdown, and added 16 rushing yards on four carries. Senior running back Jehki Williams had eight carries for 30 yards, junior running back Adonis White carried seven times for 23 yards and junior running back Rayel Hunter had four carries for 16 yards.

Defensively, sophomore linebacker Chris Barrino had 11 tackles, sophomore defensive back I’yan Gainer had nine tackles and one forced fumble, junior defensive back Myles Snead and senior lineman Jhenson Touze each had eight tackles, and senior lineman Gensley Auguste and senior defensive back Elijah Pean each had seven tackles.

The Mountaineers will visit Mount Olive on Friday, Sept. 23, at 7 p.m. Mount Olive is 0-4.

Photos by Steve Ellmore.