West Orange sophomore Shanise Barrino breaks free from a Livingston defender.
WEST ORANGE, NJ — In its third year, the West Orange High School girls flag football team is enjoying a strong season so far.
The Mountaineers, under head coach Andrew Mazurek, defeated Belleville, 34-6; and Livingston, 6-0, before losing to DePaul, 6-0. They played state-ranked Mount Olive to a scoreless tie on Friday, April 11, to move to a 2-1-1 record on the season. Mount Olive is ranked No. 10 in the state by NJ.com.
The top players for WOHS this season are senior captains Camaya Jean Louis and Ayanna Jones.
Jean Louis, a wide receiver/linebacker, last season was one of the leaders in the state in both catches and tackles (flag pulls) with 53 apiece, helping the team finish with an impressive 6-4 record, while Jones, a center, has emerged as the most reliable player on the team, Mazurek said.
Jean Louis had 13 receptions for 81 yards through the first four games this season.
Other offensive standouts are junior receiver Nola Duncan (15 receptions for 213 yards and three TDs this year), sophomore quarterback Elianna Dennis (437 yards passing, three passing TDs) and sophomore first-year running back Shanise Barrino (172 yards rushing, 44 yards receiving, two TDs). Last season, Duncan had 49 receptions for 703 yards and nine TDs. Duncan is a standout volleyball player who has already committed to Division 1 Towson University for volleyball.
The defensive standouts are sophomore LB Jacinya Garner, who was leading the state in flag pulls with 33, along with 11 sacks; LB Barrino (15 pulls and five sacks), sophomore cornerback Gabby Sulit (11 pulls, one interception), sophomore safety Luanna Denardi (seven pulls and an interception) and senior LB Jean Louis (14 pulls, two sacks and three interceptions, including one for a TD).
Mazurek is thrilled about his team this season.
“I’m very excited about our potential,” Mazurek said. “We started off very hot by winning the Mount Olive preseason tournament and then winning our first two regular-season games. However, we just had a setback and lost to DePaul in the bad weather on Monday (April 7), a team we had previously beaten 24-6 in the tournament. We return almost all of our starters, but are still a young team, as nine of our 14 starting positions are sophomores or freshmen. I like how our team has come together and worked hard on building team chemistry. We are more confident and skilled than last season and understand that game better. All of this has made us a better team overall. I admire all of the hard work and energy the girls put into this sport everyday. It is mentally tough to put in this work everyday, but we have learned that, as we stick together and support each other, we can do really special things on the field.
“Our first goal is to win our division (Freedom Division in the Super Football Conference). We are 2-0 so far after beating Belleville and Livingston. We have Columbia, Millburn and Irvington left in our division. We also look to achieve our first-ever playoff win and contend with the top teams in the playoffs.”
The following are upcoming games:
- April 21: at Columbia, 6;45 p.m.
- April 22: at Weequahic, 4:30 p.m.
- April 25: Millburn, 6 p.m.
- May 1: at Irvington, 5 p.m.
- May 2: Weequahic, 5 p.m.
- May 8: at Orange, 4 p.m.
Photos Courtesy of West Orange High School Sports Media Association
Photo of head coach Andrew Mazurek Courtesy of @shotbyvicc_
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