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West Orange coach Darnell Grant is ready to lead his reloading Mountaineers against the 2025 schedule that includes a few schools with plenty of memories for the longtime Essex County gridiron mentor who will look to a few experienced faces to help set the tone with the Mountaineers in a new campaign led by last year's leading rusher, West Point-bound senior running back Farad Green (6). (SC photos and courtesy of WOHS sports media)
Trip Down Memory Lane Will Be There
For West Orange Coach In New Season |
By Steve Tober
For sidelinechatter.com |
The years keep passing by in rapid fashion for everyone and West Orange’s Darnell Grant is not immune to that inevitable reality as he eyes the upcoming season that will include a few reminders of his varied head coaching career that enters year No. 24 in 2025.
The Mountaineers, who return a couple of key offensive weapons but were still hit hard by graduation from a 9-3 North 1, Group 5 playoff runner-up squad in 2024, open the season hosting Shabazz, 7 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 30, at Suriano Field.
Grant, 52, spent nine seasons (2010-2018) at the Brick City school, guiding the Bulldogs to four North 2, Group 1 finals and two playoff championships (2014 and 2017) while compiling a 68-32 (.680) overall record.
In their third game of the season, Friday night, Sept. 12, at Irvington, Grant will take his Mountaineers to face the school where he both starred as a player (Class of 1991) and in his first head coaching assignment (2002-2009), including a pair of playoff appearances, including a then first-ever final in the North 2, Group 3 championship game vs. New Brunswick in 2006.
If that’s not enough evidence of bona fide connections to the Grant coaching lifeline, then more is there in West Orange’s fifth game, Friday night, Sept. 25, vs. Barringer at Schools Stadium where the Mountaineers’ seventh-year head mentor will go up against Markell Thomas, one of his former star players from the undefeated (12-0) 2014 Shabazz squad, who is now the head coach for the Blue Bears.
“I guess it shows I’m definitely getting older,” Grant said with a nice bit of laughter. “I’ve enjoyed all my coaching stops along the way and it’s going to be nice to face Shabazz where we had some nice success when I was there and they now have a number of really good Division I athletes under a new coach in Nasir Gaines.
“With the change in power points it doesn’t really matter as much any more about the size of the school you’re playing and although Shabazz has been in Group 2, they are one very talented football team and should be a real good test for our kids in the season opener.”
Shabazz, like several of the top teams from Essex County in 2024, graduated quite a bit of talent from a Group 2 runner-up squad, but doe return standouts such as rising senior RB-LB Zaiden McDonald and junior linebacker Zykir Best.
Irvington, coming off a 4-4 season under first-year head coach Marco Soto, has some nice talent returning in rising junior QB Jamir Howell and speedy senior wide out Jayden Hernon.
“Going home to Irvington where it all started for me is going to have some emotions attached to it, but our job is to be prepared to face a talented and I would think improved Irvington team,” said Grant, who was 64-21, .753, in his eight seasons guiding the Blue Knights in Camptown. “There have always been so many great athletes at the school, a fact that I certainly enjoyed when I coached there now almost a quarter century ago.”
Adding a couple of recent memory links to the still-developing Grant West Orange coaching legacy are a Saturday, Sept. 6 game vs. Passaic Tech at Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, and a Friday night, Oct. 3, contest at Phillipsburg.
In 2022, Grant’s sixth-seeded Mountaineers (8-4) pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the playoffs that season, traveling out to the west edge of Jersey where they knocked off the top-seeded Stateliners , 28-7, in the North 1, Group 5 final for the first sectional playoff title in West Orange football history.
West Orange then dropped a 21-7 decision to Passaic Tech in the Group 5 semifinals at Franklin to end an otherwise banner season.
As far as the 2025 Mountaineers shape up as summertime is in full swing, the team returns five offensive starters led by the team’s leading ground gainer last season in rising senior and West Point commit Farad Green (5-9, 170), who rushed for 1,388 yards and 11 TDs.
Also back are multi-talented WR David Moore (5-10, 180), another rising senior and UMass commit who had 19 receptions for 271 yards and 3 TDs last fall, along with big and strong rising junior TE-WR Sydney Padilla (6-5, 220), who already has FBS offers from Rutgers, Boston College, Syracuse, Temple and Marshall among others.
Senior right tackle Greg Andrews (6-1, 270) and junior Aidan Watt (6-5, 250), who moves from center to left tackle, are back to anchor the O-Line.
Senior QB Brandon LaBanca (5-9, 160) had four starts last year when then starter Charlie LaMorte was injured and will compete for the fulltime starting role this season along with junior Danny Lewis (6-0, 175).
There are more spots to fill on defense where the only returning full-time starters are the talented Moore who moves from safety to cornerback this fall, and senior Ahkir Morgan (5-9, 160) at cornerback.
Padilla should emerge as a force at defensive end.
“We have a lot of inexperience, especially on defense, but I like the talent level and the program is in a good place with a number of athletic kids who have some real nice potential,” said Grant. “We’re excited about the new season and the possibilities for this group which comes ready to work hard each and every day.”
COLLEGE CORNER – Grant and his coaching staff have done a terrific job developing Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS, also known as Division 1-A) talent. Last season’s team sent WR Terrell Wilfong (Syracuse) and LB EahJay McAdams (Marshall) to high-level programs, while former Mountaineers currently playing at either FBS or FCS (1-AA) schools include potential starting junior DB Sahoor Karriem at Illinois, standout senior kick return artist Makhi Green at Monmouth University, red-shirt senior RB Shahki Carson at Stony Brook, and speedy junior WR Jarvis ‘The Jett’ Jones at Towson.
West Orange 2025 Regular Season Schedule:
Saturday, Aug. 30, vs. Shabazz, 7
Saturday, Sept. 6, vs. PCTI at Hinchliffe Stadium (TBA)
Friday, Sept. 12, at Irvington, 7
Thursday, Sept. 17, vs. Livingston, 7
Friday, Sept. 25, vs. Barringer, at Schools Stadium, 7
Friday, Oct. 3, at Phillipsburg, 7
Friday, Oct. 10: vs. Montclair, 7
Friday, Oct. 17: vs. East Orange Campus, 7
Friday, Oct. 24, at Bloomfield. 7
Follow Steve Tober on 'X' @Chattermeister
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UMass commit David Moore (2), a versatile WR-DB, is one of the current stars for West Orange, while present-day college players to watch from Mountaineer country include two members of the 2022 North, Group 5 playoff championship team, Illinois DB Saboor Karriem (2) and Towson University's wide receiver Jarvis Jones. (WOHS sports media)
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