By William Hathaway, Jr.
The New Jersey high school football state playoffs are underway. Locally, the East Orange Campus Jaguars have still not lost a game this year, beating Elizabeth this past weekend 21-7 at home. Damon Phillips rushed for 234 yards and two touchdowns for the Jags. East Orange is 9-0 so far, and will host West Orange on Saturday. Both teams have a chance to reach the state championship in the Group 5 playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Irvington Blue Knights are 8-2 on the season after surviving a scare from Linden High 11-6. Irvington will now host Colonial in the semifinals on Friday night. As for 6-4 Weequahic, they are on the road at Mountain Lakes, while Seton Hall Prep will travel to play St. Peter’s on the road. While these teams continue in the competition, Nutley is out after a forfeit due to positive COVID-19 tests.
As for NFL action, the New York Giants pulled off an impressive 23-16 home win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Big Blue is now 3-6 on the year, and head into a bye week, with Tampa Bay next up on Monday Night Football. Local football fans will have the Jets and Bills on the schedule next week.
Of course, the biggest news in the League is the insane fallout of Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers’s positive COVID-19 test. Many are angry that Rodgers said he was “immunized” instead of actually being vaccinated against the virus. Players who are unvaccinated have to follow certain rules, such as wearing masks and keeping social distance, in which Rodgers was doing neither.
Rodgers, who had to sit out a 13-7 to Kansas City, may be cleared in time to play Seattle, who hope to have their QB Russell Wilson back from injury.
