Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner Leads
Into 114th EO Old Guard Game

Old Guard member John Webb remembers well when as a sixth grader attending Sussex Avenue School in Newark his interest was piqued when it came to the Barringer-East Orange Thanksgiving football game.

“I read an article in The Star-Ledger written by Jerry Izenberg about the Barringer-East Orange Thanksgiving game tradition and it intrigued me so much that I felt. I had to attend the game,” recalled the Old Guard committee member. “I went to the 1966 game played at Martens Stadium in East Orange and when I entered the stadium I was taken back by the size of the crowd.

"Every seat in the stadium was taken and the overflow was standing on the track behind the two teams. There had to be 10,000 plus fans there.

“At that very moment I said to myself, ‘I have to play for one of these schools, and after graduating eighth grade I decided on East Orange High School using my Aunt Alice’s address at 118 South Grove St.

“I chose East Orange because the coach, Tom Dean, and his players impressed me the most. I loved the control coach Dean had of his team on the field and on the sideline. I watched very move, and when he needed a sub, he turned and pointed at someone seated on the bench and they would jump up and report to his side before entering the game.”

On Thursday, Nov. 26, 10:30 a.m. at Schools Stadium in Newark, it will be the 114th meeting between East Orange Campus (7-3) and Barringer (1-8) including that you take into account that EO and Clifford Scott merged to become EOC in 2002.

First up before Turkey Day football is the always-popular Old Guard Dinner which is set for 6-10 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 25, at The Westwood, 438 North Ave. in Garwood, which is always a golden opportunity to break bread with old friends. Tickets are $75 and can be purchased by sending a check, payable to the East Orange Old Guard, to P.O. Box 2349, East Orange, N.J. 07019.

For further information you can call Stefanie Cuff White at 908-249-2412 or Monique Montford at 973-609-9993.

The pre-Thanksgiving dinner has been a tradition since 1921.

The festive annual event sees a gathering of former East Orange High School and Barringer football players. The EO-Barringer football series is one of the oldest in the United States dating back to 1897. The game is held each year on Thanksgiving rotating between Barringer’s Schools Stadium in Newark and Paul Robeson Stadium in East Orange.

One of the highlights of this year’s dinner is honoring former East Orange Campus head coach Marion Bell and celebrating his Jaguars’ 2007 state playoff championship.

Since the Thanksgiving Old Guard series was revived in 2009, the EOHS Jaguars have won 16 straight games including 21-7 last year at Robeson Stadium.

While the state playoffs take precedence in most circles, Thanksgiving still has a firm place in the hearts and minds of the dwindling number of schools that maintain the strong allegiance and devotion to Turkey Day football rivalries. 

There was an 18-year interruption in the Barringer-EO series due to conflicting schedules, but the Old Guard had its Turkey Day game back in 2009, and even though EOC has won the last 13 games, including 38-0 last year.

“The Thanksgiving game between East Orange and Barringer is nothing short of amazing,” said Abdul Hassan of EOC the former athletic director at EOC who remains a prime mover behind the annual Old Guard and helps organize all the proceedings surrounding the game. “This tradition is so much fun!

“It all starts with the Old Guard’s dinner the night before it’s an incredible experience for all. The players that are selected to attend the dinner get to meet all the people that were in the game before them and it gives the kids a sense of pride and it’s the biggest game of the season for our team because of the tradition.

“It is like preparing for a championship game. The atmosphere on game day cannot be matched. It’s just a great tradition to be a part of!

“The interesting facts are that the demographics of East Orange change and the history of the city is slowly forgotten. To that point, it is very important that the Old Guard continue their fine tradition of honoring the past players and the game that we historically love.”

Frequent attendees at the Old Guard dinner include Joe DiVincenzo, the Essex County executive, who played at Barringer, former East Orange Mayor Ted Green and Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stevens, who went to East Orange High School.

In 2018 former NFL great Andre Tippet, the one-time Barringer all-state performer, came to the dinner at Iberia Restaurant.

“It’s such a great time to be able to see old friends and share memories of what all the Old Guard have experienced through the years,” said Hassan. “The Barringer-East Orange football tradition lives on and in this day and age of Thanksgiving Day games going by the wayside, it’s tremendous to see this annual holiday clash continue; and with gusto!”