SPORTS WRAP
BY WILLIAM HATHAWAY, JR.
PHOTOS BY FELICIA LAGUERRE OWENS
As the MLS season marches on, the New York Red Bulls have continued their solid play on both sides of the pitch (field), especially at home.
At their friendly confines in Harrison, the Red Bulls hosted Atlanta United, with defender John Tolkin assisting Dante Vanzeir on the first goal of the game at 31 minutes in. The team from the ATL answered with a goal by Aleksey Miranchuk right before extra time in the first half ended to tie the game.
The second was all about defense, with no one scoring in extra time. Then, things got interesting. Two minutes into the brief extra time, United took the lead when midfielder Edwin Mosquera scored to make it 2-1. However, right before they could claim victory, Elias Manoel, who was subbed in late, got an assist from Julian Hall to tie it at 2-2, which would be the final score. This coming Saturday, the Red Bulls will host rival New York FC.
After the tie, Red Bulls head coach Sandro Schwarz said, “I was very happy with the way we played the game, and the way we had a strong comeback in the game.
In other sports, the New York Giants won their first game of the season, going on the road and beating the Cleveland Browns 21-15. The Jets had won their game over the New England Patriots at home 24-3 in a previous Thursday night matchup.
In college football, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights are now 3-0 on the year after a road win at Virginia Tech 26-23. They will be home on Friday night when they host the Washington Huskies in an unusual matchup thanks to the expanded 18-team Big 10 Conference.
As for local high school football this past weekend, the East Orange Jaguars lost a close one at home to the Montclair Mounties 19-12. The Orange High Tornadoes won their first game of 2024, going on the road and blowing away Lincoln High 28-0. Right now, there are a total of 49 teams still undefeated in high school football through Week 3.
A battle of the oranges will take place this weekend, with Orange hosting East Orange this Saturday in a rivalry that goes back to 1960. In that first game, East Orange beat Orange 42-0 then in what was the Big Ten conference. Games were once played at the old Martins Stadium on Clinton Avenue. Players like John Scott, Buster Jones aka Bill Jones, and Artie Brown played in the rivalry. With that, Essex County fans definitely have something to look forward to, this time in the Super Football Conference.
