Insist on the Original - Solar Illuminations is your local certified dealer & installer. |
Caldwell's Nick Moyano (6), Glen Ridge's Zach Konetzni and Livingston's Christian Giordano (24) are among the players who will be on the East team coached by Central's Mark Ingram in the 32nd Paul Robeson East-West All-Star Classic set for next Tuesday, June 9, with a 7 p.m. kickoff at Robeson Stadium in East Orange. Among the men who have helped keep the Robeson Classic a vibrant all-star football contest are, from left, Steven Cowan, Kent Trimmer and the late Larry Schumacher. (SC photos and by Jeff Stiefbold)
Perseverance and an appreciation of history by a special group of men at the vanguard of keeping high school football special in North Jersey are a big part of why the 32nd Paul Robeson East-West All-Star Classic keeps going strong as the 2026 game is fast approaching, 7 p.m., Tuesday, June 9, at Robeson Stadium in East Orange. Retired East Orange principal Steven Cowan and the late, great Essex County football coach Larry Schumacher jet-started the Robeson Classic back in 1993 and were joined a year later by now retired Caldwell football coach Ken Trimmer and longtime Bloomfield head man Mike Carter, who helped form a strong braintrust quartet which has worked diligently through the years to keep the game alive and well. Each year there are new individuals inducted into the Essex County Football Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame and latest foursome set to be enshrined at halftime of Tuesday night’s contest are all familiar names to those who follow Essex County football. Entering the Essex Coaches Hall will be West Side coach Ronly London, former Columbia coach and current Union High School assistant Gary Mobley, West Orange assistant coach and former Irvington head man Pete Pascarella and retired longtime Montclair State University defensive coordinator Charlie Cocuzza. The game honors the memory of legendary Rutgers great Paul Robeson, who passed away in 1976, but left an incredible legacy as in addition to being an all-time great football player for the Scarlet Knights, was also a renowned concert singer and accomplished stage actor. The Robeson Classic has evolved in terms of the counties representing the two squads of top seniors. The East, which originally was an Essex County roster, now includes Essex, Union and Hudson counties, while the West has added Passaic County to a team which was formerly just Morris and Sussex counties. Cowan, a former standout running back at the University of Cincinnati, is still ever-present at the Robeson Classic as are Trimmer and Carter. Schumacher, the one-time standout at both Essex Catholic and Notre Dame before a long coaching career at schools including East Orange and Essex Catholic, passed away in 2010. The East roster includes many familiar names from last fall Essex County gridirion campaign including Caldwell linebacker-running back Nick Moyano, Glen Ridge's all-everything quarterback-receiver-defensive back Zach Konetzni and Livingston's superb tight end-RB-LB Christian Giordano. Mark Ingram, who continues to do a splendid job directing the improved Newark Central football program, is the head coach on a strong staff which will guide the East squad. The West squad coaching staff is headed by Morristown head man Casey Flynn. The father-son tandem of Chet Parlavecchio and son Chet, Jr., are also on the West staff. Chet Sr. who is now retired, was the longtime coach at schools including Bloomfield, Irvington, Passaic Valley, Clifton and Elizabeth, while Chet, Jr. is the former New Providence head man who has recently joined Brian Bowers' staff at his high school alma mater Delbarton. Follow Steve Tober on 'X' @Chattermeister Robeson Classic East Roster East Coaches: Robeson Classic West Squad
Former Barringer head coach and current West Side head man Ronly London and former Columbia head coach Gary Mobley are among the latest inductees into the Essex County Coaches Hall of Fame and will be honored at halftime of the Tuesday night (June 9) Robeson Classic set for Robeson Stadium, while one of long-standing organizers of the game is the longtime Bloomfield coach Mike Carter. (Sideline Chatter photos)
.
copyright 2005 Sideline Chatter - to comment contact the webmaster
|
| ||||||||||||
|
