EOCHS football team seeks payback vs. Irvington

The East Orange Campus High School varsity football team knew it wasted opportunities in last year's tough home loss to Irvington in the second week of the year.

The Jaguars have smarted from that Super Essex Conference-American Division setback and now want revenge.

EOCHS, which posted an emphatic 32-8 win over Vernon in the season opener on Sept. 10, will travel to Irvington on Sept. 18 in Week 2. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.

In last year's tight battle, Irvington broke through on an 92-yard touchdown run by since-graduated Rashon Evans with 5:42 remaining in the fourth quarter for the only score of the game as the Blue Knights won, 6-0.

"We blew a lot of opportunities," EOCHS head coach Marion Bell said of that loss.

EOCHS and Irvington went on to have great seasons. The Jaguars, as the No. 7 seed, advanced to the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group 4 championship game at Giants Stadium where they lost to Roxbury, 14-6, to finish 7-5. Irvington, as the No. 1 seed for the fourth straight season, lost to Passaic Valley in the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group 3 playoff semifinals and ended with an 8-3 mark.

As they get ready for Irvington, the Jaguars recognize they can't afford missed opportunities again.

"The speech to the kids all year is that we can't blow those opportunities," said Bell. "When we get to the red zone, we have to score, and that is our motto now."

Irvington has a new head coach this season, as Pete Pascarella took over the reins from Darnell Grant, who stepped down after eight years to become the head coach at Shabazz. Pascarella served as Grant's assistant coach for the past eight years.

Pascarella's head-coaching debut was spoiled on Sept. 11 by a strong Pope John team that beat the Blue Knights, 35-7, in Irvington.

The Jaguars certainly have a lot of respect for Irvington and the other teams in the conference.

"This is a good challenge," said Bell, who attended the Irvington opener. "They beat us last year. Last year, we took them lightly. This year, we are not overlooking anybody. We are going to come hard in every game.

"Any time we play a conference team, it is going to be a challenge. A lot of the kids know one another and they are going to play harder. Anytime you play a conference game, it is going to be tough. It is going to come down to who makes the least mistakes."

In their season opener, the Jaguars certainly statement: they want to get back to the championship game.

The Jaguars used a dominant rushing game to overwhelm Vernon at Paul Robeson Stadium.

Senior Chris Rollings rushed for 183 yards and a touchdown on just eight carries and junior Najee Williams carried 18 times for 159 yards and two touchdowns in the win. Junior Rameel Tisdale also ran for 138 yards and a touchdown on 12 attempts.

"It was great. Those backs are good," praised Bell of his running backs' performances.

Before the Irvington opener, Bell attended the funeral for Larry Schumacher in the morning that day. Mr. Schumacher was the East Orange recreation director who died on Sept. 4 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 62. Mr. Schumacher also was the head football coach at EOCHS in the first two years of the school, 2002-03. Bell succeeded Mr. Schumacher in 2004. Schumacher was the head football coach at Clifford Scott for two years, 2000 and 2001, before it closed and merged with East Orange High to form EOCHS in September 2002. Mr. Schumacher previously was the head coach at now-defunct Essex Catholic in East Orange.