As four 2-0 Essex County teams look to keep up the momentum at least three have formidable tasks facing them Friday night, while the strongest member of that group, East Orange Campus, appears ready to wield its stingy defense and proficient offense once again in Saturday’s game at neighboring foe Montclair.
The Jaguars, who have not allowed a single point yet in two contests, including 30-0 over West Side this past Friday night, might be as strong as last season when they registered slight upset at West Orange to win a state sectional playoff title, and coach John Jacob’s defensive-minded team could very well be 6-0 when it meets West Orange once again at Suriano Field in this season’s Oct. 17th contest.
Columbia, which is 2-0 after a 26-3 win over Orange, has gotten off to a good start with new head coach Lys Rubens Blanc; however, the Cougars face a very tough contest on hand Friday night when they visit Passaic Tech (1-2) in Wayne.
Belleville, also 2-0, is in the Super Football Conference-Ivy White Division where reloading teams have a chance to keep their programs on the move up and fourth-year coach Brian Antab’s Buccaneers, with a 45-20 win at North Bergen, prepares to host Demarest in a very challenging task, also Friday night, on Doc Ellis Field inside Belleville Municipal Stadium.
Glen Ridge, the fourth 2-0 team, continues to be tough at home with back-to-back wins over Whippany Park and Newark Central (20-12 this past Saturday), and second-year head coach Chris Strumolo keeps doing a superb job with his Ridgers, who journey over to Morris County to take on a 2-0 Hanover Park squad.
West Orange, which escaped ‘Camptown’ with a narrow 20-19 win vs. Irvington, Cedar Grove, which dominated archrival Verona once again, Weequahic, which rolled past Lincoln, Bloomfield, which knocked off rival Montclair, 46-21, Livingston, which rebounded nicely from a flat effort vs. EOC to down Millburn, 48-7, Nutley, which lost its first game of the season to Wayne Hills, and Shabazz, which was hammered by state power St. Peter’s Prep, 50-0, are all 2-1 so far.
Looking at unbeaten Columbia’s efforts to date, the Cougars have received strong efforts from players such as Jasiel Phair, who had 17 carries for 190 yards and two touchdowns vs. Orange, along with Jalen Holmes, who had two interceptions vs. the Tornadoes.
Belleville QB Jordan Armstrong was a very efficient 9-of-13 for 200 yards and 3 TDs at North Bergen, while Glen Ridge’s all-around standout Zach Konetzni picked off two passes in helping to lead his team past Central.
Among some other individual standouts from this past weekend, Livingston’s elusive Abel Paul had 273 yards rushing and scored 4 TDs vs. Millburn, Cedar Grove’s Thomas Cannataro was an all-around standout and shined on ‘D’ with 16 tackles and 2 sacks vs. Verona, while Caldwell’s emerging star junior wide receiver Santino Russo had 5 receptions for 114 yards and 2 TDs and also recorded 18 tackles on defense, while teammate Nicco Capaldo had 14 tackles, in a narrow 28-21 setback to the Chiefs’ archrival West Essex before a terrific crowd of perhaps 4 or 5,000 at Bonnel Field.
