West Orange HS football team begins defense of sectional crown

Irvington High School football senior DJ Mangan, second from left, and West Orange High School senior Rayel Hunter, third from left, have been selected as the nominees of their respective schools for the Steve DiGregorio Young Man of the Year award, during the game at Irvington on Friday, Oct. 21. At left is Irvington head coach Ashley ‘Smoke’ Pierre and at right is West Orange head coach Darnell Grant, an Irvington HS graduate and former IHS head football coach. (Photo Courtesy of Irvington HS Athletics)

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The West Orange High School football team begins its quest for a repeat state sectional championship.

The defending champion Mountaineers, under fifth-year head coach Darnell Grant, are the No. 6 seed seed in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 state playoffs and will visit No. 3 seed Plainfield in the quarterfinals on Friday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m. West Orange is 4-4 overall and Plainfield is 6-2 overall this season.

If the Mountaineers win, they will play the winner of No. 2 seed Union City and No. 7 seed Hackensack in the semifinals. The top seed is Phillipsburg. West Orange defeated Phillipsburg in last year’s North 2, Group 5 sectional championship game at Phillipsburg.

The Mountaineers had a tough start to the season at 1-3, but turned it around with a three-game winning streak, beating Bayonne, East Orange and North Bergen. The win streak ended with a 14-0 loss at Irvington on Friday, Oct. 20. Irvington posted its third straight shutout and fourth shutout of the season to move to 5-4 overall.

WOHS junior quarterback Charlie LaMorte completed eight of 22 passes for 114 yards with three interceptions. Senior Adonis White had 11 carries for 30 yards and added four catches for 70 yards for the Mountaineers. Senior Rayel Hunter had six carries for 13 yards, junior Terrell Wilfong had one catch for 20 yards and junior Iyan Gainer had one catch for 16 yards. Defensively, junior Ryder Abdul Aziz had 10 tackles.

Last season, West Orange enjoyed a memorable playoff run. As the No. 6 seed, they won all their playoff games on the road, defeating No. 3 seed Watchung Hills, 18-10, in the quarterfinals; No. 2 seed Ridgewood, 34-31, in overtime in the semifinals; and No. 1 seed Phillipsburg, 28-7, in the championship game. It marked West Orange’s first state sectional championship game in program history.

The Mountaineers then fell to North 1 champion Passaic County Tech, 21-7, in the Group 5 state semifinal at Franklin High School in Somerset to end the season at 8-4. Last year was the first time that the state public playoffs added group championship games. The current playoff format began in 1974. The playoffs for public schools ended in sectional finals before regional championship games were added in 2018. The public group state semifinals replaced the regional championship games.

North 2, Group 5 playoffs

No. 8 seed Morristown at No. 1 seed Phillipsburg.

No. 5 seed Clifton at No. 4 seed Westfield.

No. 6 seed West Orange at No. 3 seed Plainfield.

No. 7 seed Hackensack at No. 2 seed Union City.

West Orange (4-4)