Football Preview: West Orange Mountaineers vs. East Orange Campus Jaguars
Two dominant signal callers in Charlie Lamorte and Sa?Eed Cole are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The West Orange Mountaineers are taking a road trip to challenge the East Orange Campus Jaguars at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Last Thursday, West Orange strolled past Montclair with points to spare, taking the game 33-14.
West Orange's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Lamorte led the charge by throwing for 150 yards and two touchdowns. Farad Green Jr helped Lamorte out on the ground, rushing for 140 yards.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: West Orange was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 276 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
West Orange didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Chris Barrino and I'Yan Gainer.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask East Orange Campus). They simply couldn't be stopped on Friday as they easily beat Eastside 41-3 on the road. The Jaguars might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four matches by 20 points or more this season.
Cole was his usual excellent self, throwing for 192 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 passes, while also rushing for 62 yards on only six carries. A healthy portion of that aerial production (90 yards to be exact) went to Alex Hanks.
West Orange is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 5-2 record this season. As for East Orange Campus, they pushed their record up to 5-1 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season.
Saturday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. West Orange has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 153.4 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like East Orange Campus struggles in that department as they've been averaging 160.2. It's looking like Saturday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches.
West Orange took their win against East Orange Campus when the teams last played back in October of 2023 by a conclusive 29-6. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was East Orange Campus' Kyree Fisher, who rushed for 82 yards on only nine carries, and also threw for 196 yards on 14 of 22 attempts. Now that he won't be playing on Saturday, will it be easier for West Orange to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
