WEST ORANGE, NJ — The West Orange High School football team lost to Montclair, 24-21, in the season opener on Saturday night, Sept. 2, at Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson.
It had been five years since the Montclair Mounties had been able to defeat the West Orange Mountaineers. Not since former head coach John Fiore, were the Mounties able to keep a close game in their favor prior to West Orange’s hiring of Darnell Grant as the current head coach. Once again, this game was chock full of surprises as the game featured two young gunslingers who were not afraid to do it all. One made his debut against a very motivated Clifton Mustangs squad, while the other was a part of a tandem that will look to give opposing defenses headaches.
Who are these gunslingers? For the Mounties, it is junior QB Malachi “Bubba” Lewis, who transferred in late last year from Morris Catholic High School. Lewis was a sensational sophomore quarterback for the Crusaders, who went 2-8 last season, making key plays that made a lot of teams take notice.
Upon his junior debut with Montclair, Lewis led his squad to a 30-15 win over Clifton in a Week 0 contest. In that game, Lewis completed six passes on 15 attempts with three touchdowns and one interception, with his longest pass attempt at 55 yards.
Meanwhile, West Orange’s quarterback room is relatively deep this season, with dual threat sensational sophomore quarterback David Moore Jr. leading the way. Backing him up are seniors Jasia Mumford-Lee and Emmanuel Kales, as the Mountaineers were looking to defeat the Mounties for the sixth straight year in a row.
These two rivals met up once again at the Zone6ix Classic at the newly refurbished Hinchliffe Stadium.
After both teams exchanged punts in the first quarter. Montclair launched the first attack with a 60-yard bomb from Lewis to Jahad Battle for a big gain, setting up a 3-yard touchdown scoot by junior RB Ja-khi Chance for a 7-0 first-quarter lead after the successful point-after kick by Ben Price.
That was just the appetizer, as West Orange and Montclair duked it out in the second quarter.
West Orange made its presence felt with Moore. He methodically picked apart the Mounties defense.
With 11:51 left in the second quarter, West Orange sophomore RB Noah Terry bounced into the promised land from a yard out, capping a nine-play, 66-yard drive under Moore’s guidance.
Lewis answered the underclassman with a touchdown. He completed three of four passes to cap a five-play, 62-yard drive with a 12-yard pass to David Thom-Rodgers for a 14-7 lead with 7:40 left in the first half.
The Mounties added a little insurance with another drive that started with an interception at the Montclair 38-yard line. Lewis proceeded to hand the Mountaineers defense a healthy diet of runs and passes that would result in a 24-yard field goal by Price, who was spot on for all point- after kicks and field-goal attempts, stretching to a 17-7 lead with just :44 seconds left in the half. On the ensuing kickoff, West Orange kick returner Adonis White picked up where he left off from last season and made the Mounties all pay as he proved to be slippery on an 82-yard return to the end zone to pull West Orange within 17-13 to end the first-half fireworks.
Montclair and West Orange traded punts for all of the third quarter. The fourth quarter saw more big plays from both quarterbacks. There also were a couple of fumbles, big pass breakups and a 22-yard pick-6 by Thom-Rodgers to stretch the lead to 24-13 with 5:58 left in regulation. But Moore had poise in the pocket as the up-and-coming field general showed why he’s going to be a rising star to watch. He guided his squad with a steady hand by finding all of his targets, going 14 of 24 for 183 yards, with some of his biggest targets going to junior WR Terrell Willfong, who easily manhandled Montclair defenders by hauling in seven receptions for 118 yards. Two of his final catches were for 15 yards and 43 yards, respectively.
Moore and Willfong proved to be a big connection for the Mountaineers, as they set up another 3-yard punch into the house by White and Terry’s two-point conversion to pull within 24-21 with 3:44 left in the game.
Needing a stop and a punt, West Orange’s defense was in overdrive, led by EahJay McAdams and Myles Snead, who both combined for a total of 21 tackles, two sacks and four tackles for a loss. However, they couldn’t stop Montclair’s outside ground attack, as the Mounties gobbled the clock and gained two critical first downs to seal their second victory of the season.
“We are going to be okay,” said Grant, adding he was pleased with the fight of his players who “didn’t give up in the midst of adversity.”
Lewis said, “We knew this game was going to be a tough one. We wanted to stick to our game plan, which was where all the film study and practice came in handy.” When asked about the game speed, he said that it all came naturally, as he was looking to make the plays that would help his team win the game.
“Five years since we were able to beat them,” said Montclair head coach Jermaine Johnson. He certainly felt the game was a little too close for comfort, but nonetheless was happy that his Mounties are now 2-0 on the season.
In a previous interview, Johnson stated that his squad had unfinished business that was left over from last season in regard to the forfeiture of wins. Johnson stated that his squad has put it behind them, and everyone should be on notice as they are looking to make the playoffs this season.
West Orange will have its home opener on Friday, Sept. 8, against Bloomfield at 7 p.m.
Montclair will host Nutley at Woodman Field on Saturday, Sept. 9, at 1 p.m.
Photos Courtesy of Kerry E. Porter
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