West Orange senior David Moore Jr. lunges for yardage after making the catch as a defender attempts the tackle during a preseason home scrimmage last month.
WEST ORANGE, NJ — The West Orange High School football team posted its first victory of the season, defeating Passaic County Tech 32-29 on Sept. 7 at WOHS’ Joe Suriano Stadium in the Lamar McKnight Classic.
Senior receiver/defensive back David Moore Jr. sparked the Mountaineers (1-1) with two touchdown catches, a blocked punt return for TD and an interception for a score that proved decisive.
Junior quarterback Daniel Lewis passed for 111 yards and two touchdowns on eight of 11 attempts and rushed for 47 yards and a TD on six carries to spark the Mountaineers, who improved to 1-1 on the season.
Senior running back Farad Green Jr. rushed for 58 yards on 15 carries.
Moore returned a block punt for a touchdown in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Lewis connected with Moore on a 7-yard TD pass.
In the third quarter, Lewis threw a 36-yard TD pass to Moore. Lewis ran for a 37-yard TD later in the quarter to give WOHS a 26-13 lead.
PCT scored a TD and added the two-point conversion to cut it to 26-21, before Moore picked off a pass and returned it 48 yards into the end zone to make it 32-21. PCT scored on a 2-yard run and added the two-point conversion, but the Mountaineers held on for the win. PCT fell to 0-2.
The game was rescheduled from the previous day at Hinchcliffe Stadium in Paterson due to rain and lightning.
West Orange will visit Irvington High School on Sept. 12. Irvington also is 1-1.
West Orange and PCT played in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Group 5 state regional title game in 2022, with PCT winning.
WOHS, seeded No. 6, advanced to the regional final after defeating No. 1 seed Phillipsburg 28-7 to win the North 2, Group 5 state sectional championship in its first-ever sectional state final. It was also the first year that the state postseason expanded to regional finals.
PCT also defeated West Orange in 2023 and last season, both in Super Football Conference crossover divisional play.
Photo by Steve Ellmore
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