West Orange always has a strong arsenal of players on the rise up under veteran coach Darnell Grant, and also experienced standouts back in tow such as Rutgers commit Sydney Padilla, a talented senior tight end and D-lineman, plus a veteran quarterback in senior Daniel Lewis and a superb senior linebacker in Xavier Davis, plus reliable special teams performers in placekicker Aaron Goginez and punter Clavens Pierre.

However, the Mountaineers graduated a lot, including standout running back Farad Green who rushed for 1,144 yards and 18 TDs and an all-everything skill kid in the very versatile WR-DB David Moore (UMass.), so it will be interesting to see who steps up among the skill-position players this season.

Ramapo, behind its superb coach Nick Guttuso, graduated an all-time great QB in Casey Grusser (2,583 yards and 26 TDs in 2025) plus its top rusher Liam Haywood (1,048 yards, 17 TDs) and leading receivers from an 11-2 squad that reached the overall Group 4 state final before falling to powerful South Jersey juggernaut Winslow, 34-21.

Still, like West Orange with its annual influx of young talent moving up, the Green Raiders always seem to be able to reload and have success and are typically a very fundamentally sound team which means it should be an intriguing contest vs. an always-athletic West Orange squad to open things up in the new campaign.   

In another intriguing Thursday night opener up in Morris County, West Essex, coming off a 6-4 season and with several holes to fill on the offensive side of the ball, faces a Montville squad that returns the bulk of its attack from a 5-4 team.

QB Jackson Gering (1,436 yards passing in 2025 along with veteran wide receiver Brett Kunkel and running back Clement Hofbauer return for Coach Rick DeBonta’s promising Mustangs.

In season 2 under head coach Dan Fulton the Knights must replace All-Everything QB Jake Long (now a freshman at Muhlenberg College) who was Sideline Chatter’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2025 after passing for 1,359 yards and rushing for 1,474 yards.

West Essex entered pre-season camp with two players – senior Gaetano Iavarone and sophomore Ben Cirigliano competing for the starting nod behind center.

New Knights QB coach Marty Horn, who came over to the North Caldwell Regional high school from a long run at Madison with the since-retired Chris Kubik, is on hand to lend his expertise while working with the inexperienced West Essex signal callers.

The Knights do return a couple of veteran skill position players such as senior RB Mike Lozito and senior WR Luke Kesack along with veteran left tackle DJ Fiore.

The strong defensive unit features several experienced returnees including a secondary with Kesack (safety) and fellow seniors Anthony Conforti and Rocco Pontrella, while linebackers include Anthony Cirigliano on the outside and junior Frank Iavarone in the middle are solid, while bolstering the D-Line will be seniors Fiore and Ny’shawn Muldrow.

West Essex also has an experienced and very accurate placekicker back in tow in Robert Warmington who was 4 of 4 in field goals and 40 of 40 in extra points last fall.

Week Zero Season-Opening Games Involving Essex County Teams:
Thursday, Aug. 27:
Bergen Tech at MKA, 4
West Essex at Montville, 6:30
Bayonne at Livingston, 7
Shabazz vs. Atlantic City in Battle at the Beach (Ocean City) , 7
Ramapo at West Orange in Mountaineer Classic, 7:30

Friday, Aug. 28:
Seton Hall Prep at St. Joseph (Md.), 4
Nutley at Pascack Valley, 6
Ramsey at Verona, 6
Bloomfield at Central (Shabazz Stadium), 7
Hillside at Columbia (Underhill Field), 7

Saturday, Aug. 29:
West Side at Glen Ridge, noon
Piscataway at East Orange Campus, 1
Cedar Grove vs. Gloucester in Battle at the Beach (Ocean City), 1
Ridgewood at Montclair, 1             

Follow Steve Tober on 'X' @Chattermeister