SPORTS WRAP
BY WILLIAM HATHAWAY. JR.
Football fans were treated to a good old fashioned rivalry. Dating back to the local Big Ten Conference, the East Orange Campus Jaguars blanked Orange 27-0 at Bell Stadium. At halftime, it was only 7-0. Then the second half happened. On a brighter note, the Orange High School football program homecoming held a great tail gating party. This result was the opposite of a 28-0 win Orange had over Lincoln, and the Tornadoes are now 2-3 on the season.
ORANGE V. EAST ORANGE PHOTO BY TAHLEIM REYES, RODPRODZ
In other local matchups, the Irvington Blue Knights tamed the Columbia Lions 38-7, West Orange’s Mountaineers conquered the Barringer Bears 37-0, the Weequahic Indians rode on West Side 44-8, Verona beat Central High 31-20, and the Bloomfield Bengals defeated Lincoln 35-20.
IRVINGTON V. COLUMBIA PHOTO BY FELICIA LAGUERRE OWENS
In college football, Rutgers has come out to a hot start in the oversized collegiate Big “Ten” Conference, as a home win over last season’s National Title runner-up Washington put them at 4-0.
As for the NFL, the Giants had already lost last Thursday night at home to Dallas 20-15. On Sunday, the Jets did no better at MetLife Stadium, losing a rainy day game to Denver 10-9 when Greg Zuerlein missed a 50 yard field goal to give Gang Green the lead with less than two minutes left. Meanwhile, in a Monday Night Football game, Lions QB Jared Goff went 18-18 for two TDs, and even caught one in a 42-27 home win over the Seahawks.
The NBA was rocked by the news that the New York Knicks acquired NJ native Karl-Anthony Towns from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and a first-round pick via the Detroit Pistons.
In MLB, the New York Mets won the first game of a season-ending doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves 8-7 to secure one of the last two Wild Card spots in the NL. The Braves won the second game to take the other spot, leaving the soon-to-be former NL champ Arizona Diamondbacks out in the cold. While Mets star Francisco Lindor had an MVP worthy season, he will probably lose out to Dodgers slugger Shohei Ohtani, who made history as the first player to notch 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same year, leading LA to the best record in baseball.
In the AL, the Yankees have the best record on that side of the bracket, with Aaron Judge blasting a quiet 58 home runs, four shy of his league standard 62.
Finally, the sports world said goodbye to two legends. On the morning of Sept. 30, NBA fans mourned the death of former Nets and Knicks center Dikembe Mutombo at the age of 58. That evening, the baseball world said farewell to “Charlie Hustle” Pete Rose at the age of 83.
