WEST ORANGE—Passaic Tech head coach Matt Demarest wouldn’t say that one play decided a football game that included 14 touchdowns and nearly 800 yards of total offense. But it was hard to overstate the impact of the final play of the first half of Friday night’s NJSIAA North 1, Group 5 title tilt.
The scene: 18 seconds left, Demarest’s visiting Bulldogs clinging to a six-point lead and West Orange 10 yards from the go-ahead touchdown, a sectional championship truly up for grabs.
But then PCTI’s Tony Baldwin-Harris grabbed it.
The junior cornerback made a sensational read on WOHS quarterback Brandon LaBanca’s looping pass towards the east sideline, snapped it out of the air before it could reach the arms of receiver Ahkir Morgan, and found himself with nothing but chilly mid-November air in front of him.
Baldwin-Harris’ opportunistic 96-yard interception return TD as time expired in the half gave second-seeded Passaic Tech a critical cushion that they capitalized on to knock off No. 1 West Orange, 56-42, to claim the N1G5 title Friday night at Suriano Stadium.
“I don’t know if I’d say that one play was the game, the way our offense dominated today,” Demarest said. “But it was almost like a scary feeling of last time we played them [a 32-29 loss on Sept. 6]. You know, we had just missed an extra point, it was feeling like the momentum was getting away from us. So it was just a really important swing right before halftime for us, and I’m so happy for Tony to make a play that big.”
The pick-six keyed a sequence of 27 consecutive PCTI points, spanning most of the second and third quarters, that turned a highly competitive, back-and-forth championship game into a foregone conclusion.
Passaic Tech’s offense did indeed dominate, racking up 434 yards of offense, including 324 on the ground. Senior tailback Kadir Younge led the charge with 179 rush yards and 2 TDs on 24 tough-nosed carries, utilizing the terrific blocking of Passaic Tech’s front line to get to the edge frequently.
“We’ve got stars all around the field,” Younge said. “It was just the kind of game where, you know, tonight, maybe our defense or special teams made some mistakes, but we knew offensively it was our job to clean them up. My offensive line, they’re just incredible. I owe them donuts, or pancakes, maybe both. I couldn’t have done this without them.”
The Mountaineers were led by a heroic effort from West Point commit Farad Green Jr., who scored all six of his team’s touchdowns. He carried 20 times for 130 yards and 5 scores on the ground, and also returned a kickoff 93 yards for a first-quarter TD.
If the football season were a sprint, Passaic Tech might have been written off after an 0-2 start that included the loss to this same West Orange team.
But the season is long, and the Bulldogs have been on a different level since the midseason addition of senior quarterback Gabe Miles, who sat out the first month of the season due to state transfer rules. Miles is a calm presence under center, and is both efficient throwing the ball (9-for-12, 110 yards, 1 TD) and a big-play threat every time he runs it (12 carries for 66 yards Friday). The signal-caller has been one of the keys in PCTI’s six-game winning streak and a dominant run to the sectional title.
“People definitely wrote us off in the beginning of the season,” Demarest said. “But I tell people, a football season is a journey. We had to find pieces, and over the course of the season the kids had to learn to trust us and each other. Gabe is one of the best quarterbacks in North Jersey, and an awesome kid. He’s got an element to him like some of the pros, like [Patrick] Mahomes or [Lamar] Jackson, guys who force defenses into worrying about their running ability.”
On the other side, West Orange came up one win short of a second sectional title in program history, and for the second straight season veteran coach Darnell Grant’s squad felt the heartbreak of a sectional final loss on their home turf. (The Mountaineers fell to East Orange, 13-7, in 2024.)
West Orange had two quarterbacks split duty and throw for 100+ yards apiece: LaBanca was 8-for-16 for 125 yards, while junior Daniel Lewis was 4-for-9 for 108. Outstanding senior Jeremiah Barnes caught 4 passes for 134 yards to lead a big night for the WOHS receivers.
Throughout the first half, the Mountaineers looked every bit the equal of this powerful PCTI outfit. A frenetic first quarter saw the teams trade touchdowns, first of the standard variety – impressive opening drives that ended with short runs, a 2-yard plunge by PCT quarterback Gabe Miles, and a 3-yarder by Green Jr. – then two of the spectacular kind.
PCT’s opportunistic defense came up big first, as linebacker Ian McDuffie forced a fumble after a pass reception near the sideline, and defensive back Jose Trinidad scooped it up and sprinted 20 yards into the end zone for a 14-7 lead. The response was immediate, as Green Jr. found a crease to take the ensuing kickoff back with 2:15 left in the opening period.
After a fourth-down stop by West Orange junior defensive lineman Faheem Issah, a deep ball completion from LaBanca to Morgan (4 catches, 64 yards) set up Green Jr.’s 12-yard scoring burst that gave the Mountaineers their only lead of the night, 21-14, with 7:13 left in the half.
But eventually, the sheer physicality of Passaic Tech’s massive offensive line proved to be too much for West Orange to handle. It took three plays for the Bulldogs to tie the score, Younge breaking off a 35-yard run on the first play of the following drive and running into the end zone from 10 yards out.
A couple of critical screen passes from Miles to McDuffie – one of which converted a 3rd-and-14 – set up PCT’s go-ahead touchdown, a 12-yard Miles-to-Anthony D’Agostino connection with just over 90 seconds remaining in the half. However, sophomore Samuel Furr blocked the extra point to keep the game at 27-21.
The Mountaineers looked like they might just steal a halftime lead – and have the opportunity to “double dip” by receiving the ball after halftime – after a wacky 27-yard completion from LaBanca to junior Sydney Padilla, who deftly kept his concentration to haul in a ball that deflected off a defender’s helmet.
But Baldwin-Harris’ interception on the very next play was a back-breaker, and set the tone for the second half where Passaic Tech could play with a lead, draining the clock with long, physical drives. Younge’s second touchdown of the day in the last minute of the third quarter capped a 9-play, 68-yard, nearly 5-minute drive and gave the Bulldogs an insurmountable 41-21 lead.
From there, the teams traded touchdowns again in the final quarter, with West Orange never managing to get the critical stop or onside kick recovery they needed.
NOTES & NUMBERS—PCTI’s season will continue with another road game in next weekend’s Group 5 semifinals, this time at North 2 champion Bridgewater-Raritan. The Bulldogs are aiming for a third trip to the overall Group 5 championship game in four years, having lost to terrific Toms River North teams in both 2022 and 2023 … Passaic Tech CB/WR Tyson Walker had a two-way game of note, catching 4 passes for 50 yards and batting away several passes in a tough matchup with Barnes, the outstanding WOHS deep threat … West Orange is 51-24 in seven seasons under Grant, the veteran coach who broke through to give the Mountaineers their first sectional title in program history in 2022.
2025 NJSIAA Group 5 sectional finals – Friday
North 1: Passaic Tech 56, West Orange 42
North 2: Bridgewater-Raritan 21, Bayonne 14
Central: Washington Twp. 38, Old Bridge 7
South: Kingsway 38, Atlantic City 21
Group 5 semifinal pairings – Nov. 21
Passaic Tech (9-3) at Bridgewater-Raritan (9-3)
Kingsway (10-2) at Washington Township (12-0)
Championship game to be played between Nov. 28-Dec. 3 at MetLife Stadium or Rutgers
North 1, Group 5 championship game
#2 Passaic Tech (9-3) 14 19 8 15 - 56
#1 West Orange (9-3) 14 7 0 21 - 42
FIRST QUARTER
PCT—Gabe Miles 2 run (Nicholas Dragone kick), 7:52
Drive: 8 plays, 65 yards, 4:08
WO—Farad Green Jr. 3 run (Aaron Godinez kick), 5:44
Drive: 5 plays, 66 yards, 2:08
PCT—Jose Trinidad 20 fumble return (Dragone kick), 2:29
WO—Green Jr. 93 kickoff return (Godinez kick), 2:15
SECOND QUARTER
WO—Green Jr. 12 run (Godinez kick), 8:21
Drive: 6 plays, 51 yards, 2:46
PCT—Kadir Younge 10 run (Dragone kick), 7:13
Drive: 3 plays, 51 yards, 1:08
PCT—Anthony D’Agostino 10 pass from Miles (kick blocked), 1:36
Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 3:20
PCT—Tony Baldwin-Harris 96 interception return (run failed), 0:00
THIRD QUARTER
PCT—Younge 1 run (Colin Hietanan run), 0:30
Drive: 9 plays, 68 yards, 4:46
FOURTH QUARTER
WO—Green Jr. 4 run (Godinez kick), 11:42
Drive: 3 plays, 50 yards, 0:48
PCT—Randy Lewis 2 run (Miles run), 8:05
Drive: 7 plays, 65 yards, 3:37
WO—Green Jr. 2 run (Godinez kick), 4:19
Drive: 2 plays, 54 yards, 0:39
PCT—Naz Mitchell 53 run (Dragone kick), 4:05
Drive: 1 play, 53 yards, 0:14
WO—Green Jr. 1 run (Godinez kick), 1:28
Drive: 8 plays, 65 yards, 2:37
