By William Hathaway, Jr.
The New Jersey Sectional Finals were held this past weekend, and one anticipated game took place in East Orange at a packed Paul Roberson Stadium. Under Head Coach Rae Oliver, the East Orange Campus High School Jaguars ran the table to claim their first divisional title in over a decade. Facing a tough Passaic County Tech team, The Jags dominated from the start, getting 205 yards on the ground and 3 touchdowns from Damon Phillips.
The East Orange defense was up to the task, with contributions from BJ Covington and Kyle Louis. A 35-7 victory gave East Orange the North 1 Group 5 title, and the Jaguars will now head to SHI Stadium on December 5th to compete for the regional championship. Until then, the 11-0 EO squad will play their thanksgiving game at Barringer.
Of course, East Orange wasn’t the only team in Essex County to hoist a trophy. The Irvington Blue Knights had never claimed a sectional title in football, but that streak is over. Irvington, the top seed in the Group 4 state playoffs, won their first ever sectional title in football. Leading the Knights was senior Saquan Gordon who connected on a 57 touchdown pass to Nasir Addison.
Irvington came back from a 10-7 deficit before halftime and never looked back. Justin Evans-Jenkins led the defense to help his teams secure a 28-13 win over Middletown South and the North 2 Group 4 crown. The 10-2 Knights now await their opponent for the regional title at SHI Stadium on December 4th.
In pro football action, the Jets lost at home to Miami 24-17, while the Giants lost at Tampa Bay 30-10 and fired offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.
