WEST ORANGE, NJ — The West Orange High School football team is getting ready for the state playoffs.
The fourth-seeded Mountaineers, under third-year head coach Darnell Grant, will host No. 5 seed Westfield in the quarterfinals of the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 5, state playoffs on Friday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. at Suriano Stadium. Westfield is 3-5 on the season.
The winner will face the winner between No. 8 seed Elizabeth and No. 1 seed East Orange Campus in the semifinals. West Orange fell to East Orange,
21-14, at Suriano Stadium on Sept. 24 in week 4.
West Orange is 6-3 on the season. After losing to East Orange Campus, the Mountaineers won their next four games. But the win streak ended with a 21-7 loss to a strong Irvington team on Friday night, Oct. 29, under rainy and windy conditions. Irvington won its third straight game and seventh in its last eight games to improve to 7-2 overall on the season.
Grant faced his former school. A 1991 Irvington High School graduate, Grant was the head coach at Irvington from 2002-09.
In the first quarter, Nasir Addision, who has committed to the University of Maryland, scored on a 47-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Saquan Gordon and Anthony Ellis kicked the extra point to give Irvington a 7-0 lead.
Raheem Wright returned an interception 61 yards for a touchdown and Ellis kicked the extra point in the second quarter for a 14-0 halftime lead.
West Orange broke the shutout with a 12-yard touchdown run by Jehki Williams and Leo Levine’s extra-point kick to cut it to 14-7 in the third quarter.
But the Blue Knights sealed the win when Famah Toure ran for a 64-yard touchdown and Ellis kicked the extra point in the fourth quarter.
West Orange is seeking its first state sectional final in program history. In Grant’s first year at the helm, 2019, the Mountaineers reached the North 2, Group 5, semifinals but lost at Union, 21-14, to finish 7-4.
Last season, which West Orange finished strong at 6-1, the playoffs were canceled due to the pandemic.
The following are the North 1, Group 5, playoff matchups:
- No. 8 seed Elizabeth at No. 1 seed East Orange Campus.
- No. 5 seed Westfield at No. 4 seed West Orange.
- No. 6 seed Montclair at No. 3 seed Passaic County Tech.
- No. 7 seed Columbia at No. 2 seed Ridgewood.
The following are season records:
- East Orange Campus, 8-0.
- Elizabeth, 3-6.
- Westfield, 3-5.
- West Orange, 6-3.
- Montclair, 5-4.
- Passaic County Tech, 6-3.
- Columbia, 5-4.
- Ridgewood, 6-2.
Photos Courtesy of Felicia Laguerre Owens
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