SPORTS WRAP
BY WILLIAM HATHAWAY, JR.
PHOTOS BY ORANGE ATHLETICS
The New Jersey high school state football tournament opened this week. First, despite a regular season record of 5-4, the Irvington Blue Knights will be home against a tough Middletown North team in the North 2 Group 4 quarterfinal game this Friday at home. West Orange, who finished the season 4-4 a time after winning a football championship for the first time in years, will play Plainfield on the road.
Meanwhile, the 5-3 Shabazz Bulldogs will be going on the road to play fellow Essex team Cedar Grove in a North Group 1 playoff. Glen Ridge, another area team which made it to the playoffs in a long time, will play Waldwick in North 2 Group 1 action.
Finally, the mighty Caldwell Chiefs, who are on a 33 game winning streak, will be hosting Madison in the Group 3 playoffs, while Weequahic, who has been dominant all season at 8-0, will be hosting Woodridge.
Of course, the shocker of the season is that the Orange Tornadoes who finished the season at 6-2, was not selected for the playoffs. A shocking loss to Lincoln for the division championship in the Super Football Conference did not help matters. Nonetheless, the Tornadoes will be playing a consolidation game against Bergenfield at 1 pm at Bell Stadium on Senior Day.
As for the pros, the Jets had a much deserved bye week, so the Giants were the only local to take the field. Despite still being without Daneil Jones, the G Men won an ugly game 14-7 over the Washington Commanders.
