Senior Gridders Display Talents
In 32nd Robeson All-Star Classic

EAST ORANGE—Each of the 80 or so graduating seniors who suited up for Tuesday night’s Paul Robeson All-Star Football Classic had their own motivations for being there. For some, the annual showcase game is a chance to put a bow on a four-year journey of ups and downs. For others, it means one last opportunity to showcase their skills before stepping up to the next level.

Or both, in the case of West Orange senior wide receiver Jeremiah Barnes.

The Mountaineer standout caught 4 passes for 70 yards, including an outstanding jump-ball 25-yard touchdown catch late in the first half, to help propel the East to an 18-3 victory in the 32nd annual all-star game, played in front of a terrific crowd of about 2,000 at Robeson Stadium.

“It feels great to go out with a win,” said Barnes, who will play for Western Connecticut State University this fall. “Obviously with [West Orange] losing the sectional final this year, that was a tough way to go out with all of my teammates. But it’s wonderful to have my last high school game be a win here. I’ve really enjoyed playing with my [East] guys, it’s been super competitive in practice, and I can’t say enough about how good the experience was.”

On an ideal late-spring weather night in front of an enthusiastic crowd of family, friends, and football fans from across North Jersey, the East All-Stars (Essex, Hudson, and Union counties) defeated the West All-Stars (Morris, Sussex and Passaic counties) for the second straight season. The East has won 23 Robeson games to the West’s 9 all-time.

“We had a great group,” said Newark Central and East head coach Mark Ingram. “We had a great coaching staff with [Glen Ridge DC] Marc Polynice and [West Orange OC Khalfani] Alleyne leading the guys. And we had kids who were just active and attentive in paying attention to detail. I didn’t have to tell them anything twice, and I think that’s why we came out prepared to play today.”
Hoboken quarterback Isaiah Blanks was unquestionably the single standout performer on the night, connecting on 12 of 20 passes for 182 yards and accounting for both East touchdowns en route to being named the East’s Offensive Most Valuable Player. He tossed a perfect strike to Barnes for the first, then put the game out of reach on a 3-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter.

Defensively, the East’s front seven dominated the game from the jump, limiting the West’s potent rushing attack and forcing them into passing situations – perfect for the East’s group of big, fast defensive linemen and linebackers, who made life miserable for the opposing quarterbacks. All told, the West managed just 87 yards of total offense and 5 first downs.

“We had tons of guys get after it defensively,” Ingram said. “It just made things very easy when we got them into passing downs, and guys could just let it rip. Because we had some really talented guys up front who could just do their thing.”

Hillside defensive end Daysun Looby picked up 2.5 sacks to earn Defensive MVP honors, but a strong case could also be made for Livingston end Matt Steiner, who had a sack of his own and was potent in setting the edge opposite of Looby. Another Essex County standout, Newark Central lineman Mamoudou Kamara, had possibly the defensive play of the game when he recovered a critical fumble to halt a potential game-tying drive for the West early in the fourth quarter.

That defensive effort made the East’s two first-half scores hold up. After the teams traded punts on their opening possessions, the East marched downfield behind the pinpoint passing of Blanks, who spread the ball around to Barnes, Livingston tight end Christian Giordano (2 catches, 53 yards for the game), and Weequahic receiver Xavier Smith (4 catches, 20 yards). That drive ended with a 43-yard field goal by Shabazz’s Basit Raimi, which was good with several yards to spare, to put the East ahead 3-0 with 1:14 left in the opening stanza.

A second East scoring opportunity was denied midway through the quarterback when Bayonne QB Nico Sampson’s deep ball was intercepted by West Milford’s Nick Triverio in the end zone. But the East finally converted when Blanks returned to the game with just over a minute left in the first half.

Despite having a linebacker’s build at 5-foot-10 and 220 pounds, the FDU-Florham-bound quarterback showed off some fancy footwork on a 12-yard scramble for a first down. Two plays later, Blanks delivered a perfect 25-yard strike on the run to Barnes, who leapt over a defender to haul in the touchdown.

“Isaiah was amazing,” Barnes said. “I figured out pretty quickly that this guy could really throw the ball. So I just started to kind of follow him wherever he was going, and I just knew that he was going to put the ball out there. I just had to go get it.”

Sampson flipped a “Philly Special” pass to Johnson’s Shymir Burgess for the 2-point conversion and an 11-0 halftime lead.

The West managed to put together its best drive of the day in the third quarter, sparked by a long completion from Butler QB David Smith to Pequannock’s Dylan Roemmele. The 54-yard completion set up a 31-yard field goal by Kittatinny’s Niko Martinez, cutting the East’s lead to 11-3 with 2:36 left in the third.

Roemmele, who earned West Team Offensive MVP honors, then opened the fourth quarter with a 13-yard run that set his team up with a first down near midfield. But two plays later, a bad snap bounced into the waiting arms of Parrish, ending the West’s last shot at tying the score.

Blanks completed two key passes on the ensuing drive – a 20-yard screen to Burgess (3 catches, 46 yards) and a 25-yarder to Barnes – before calling his own number for the clinching 3-yard TD run with 7:00 to play.

The East’s victory drew down the curtain down on the high school careers of dozens of standouts from schools across North Jersey, continuing a tradition that has grown since the Robeson Classic’s founding in 1993.

“It’s really a blessing to be here, and to be working with these kids in this game,” Ingram said. “I let them know, you know, they’re a part of the brotherhood now. This is a bonding experience, where, you know, they can call me anytime if they need anything before they get to college, when they’re out there. I want to be there for them.”

Named in honor of Paul Robeson (1898-1976), the Rutgers All-American football player, artist and activist, the all-star game is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of the organizing committee led by Mike Carter, Dr. Stephen Cowan, Ken Trimmer, and the late Larry Schumacher. Under their leadership, the Robeson Classic continues to thrive as one of the highlights of the New Jersey high school sports calendar.

Essex Coaches Association Hall of Fame Welcomes Class of 2026
In addition to honoring outgoing senior stars, the Robeson Classic also annually pays homage to coaches who have been integral parts of the football fabric in Essex County over the past several decades.

The Class of 2026 in the Essex County Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame were enshrined at halftime of Tuesday’s contest, presented with plaques and enjoying a moment with friends and family.

This year’s honorees include former Irvington head coach and West Orange assistant Pete Pascarella, Newark West Side coach Ronly London, former Columbia head coach and current Union assistant Gary Mobley, and retired longtime Montclair State University defensive coordinator Charlie Cocuzza. Additionally, the Essex Coaches Hall provided special recognition to veteran sportswriter Mike Lamberti, who has been covering the area high school sports scene since 1976.

Pascarella had a successful six-year run in charge of Irvington (2010-15), including seven-win seasons in both 2012 and 2014. Over the last decade, he has been an integral part of the coaching braintrust around Darnell Grant at both Shabazz and West Orange. Both schools have won state sectional championships under Grant and Pascarella’s leadership, Shabazz in 2017 and West Orange in 2022.

London, who will enter his fourth season at the helm of West Side this fall, has been a fixture of the coaching scene in Essex County for more than two decades. A graduate of Clifford Scott High in East Orange, London started his coaching career as an assistant under Marion Bell at East Orange Campus in 2004. (EOCHS was created from the merger of Clifford Scott and East Orange High in 2002.) After a decade with the Jaguars, London earned his first head coaching job at Barringer High (2015-17), before rejoining Bell’s staff at West Side, leading the Roughriders to a nine-win season and a playoff win in 2019.

Mobley led Columbia for nine seasons (2016-24), leading the Cougars to three straight years of .500-or-better football in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Prior to his stint in Maplewood, Mobley was also a highly successful coach at Rahway, leading the Union County school to nine playoff appearances in 11 seasons.

Cocuzza, who played college football at Upsala College in East Orange, served for 27 seasons as the offensive coordinator at Montclair State (1976-2002), working with fellow coaching legends like Clary Anderson, Fred Hill, and Rick Giancola to lead the Red Hawks to five NCAA Division III quarterfinal appearances.

32ND ANNUAL ROBESON CLASSIC ALL-STAR GAME
East    3          8          0          7          -           18
West  0          0          3          0          -           3
Most Valuable Players:
East Offense: QB Isaiah Blanks (Hoboken)
East Defense: DE Daysun Looby (Hillside)
West Offense: RB Dylan Roemmele (Pequannock)
West Defense: DE Evan Taibl (Wayne Hills)
Scoring summary:
First quarter
EAST—Basit Raimi 43 field goal, 1:14
10 plays, 70 yards, 5:26 – East leads, 3-0
Second quarter
EAST—Jeremiah Barnes 25 pass from Isaiah Blanks (Shymir Burgess pass from Nico Sampson), 0:38
3 plays, 37 yards, 0:28 – East leads, 11-0
Third quarter
WEST—Niko Martinez 31 field goal, 2:36
7 plays, 67 yards, 4:40 – East leads, 11-3
Fourth quarter
EAST—Blanks 3 run (Raimi kick), 7:00
6 plays, 60 yards, 3:14 – East leads, 18-3