A stifling East Orange defense that had allowed more points in this first half than in any of its last 11 games would brush off that disappointment and have the last say, as usual.
And the last long, long, long run of the season.
That occurred when Ahmad Nalls scooped up a fumble from out of a scrum at the goal line and raced 100 yards untouched into the opposite end zone to lift No. 15 East Orange to a heart-stopping, 30-24 victory over No. 20 Clifton in the third overtime of this North, Group 5 final in the NJSIAA Rothman Orthopaedics Football Championships Sunday afternoon at Shi Stadium in Piscataway.
That was a big, fat cherry on top of a perfect 13-0 season for the Jaguars, and a crushing loss for a feisty Clifton squad (10-3) that had led the Jaguars until senior Raeden Oliver hit junior Joshua Richards with a 4-yard scoring pass with 19 seconds to go in regulation, and senior Geraldo Gibson followed with the PAT to force overtime at 17-17.
The final celebration, however, was delayed as the play was put under review following a 1-yard keeper by Clifton QB Kyle Vellis on the opening series of the third overtime. The original call on the field was fumble just before the goal line and recovery, and the ruling stood to the uproarious delight of East Orange players and fans, and the echoing growns of Clifton’s faithful.
“At first, I thought they would blow the play dead, but then I realized I heard no whistle, and everybody was yelling, ‘Run, run, run!’ I took off,” Nalls said. “No whistle, that means got to get up out of here.”
That dramatic return by the senior capped a thrilling, hard-to-believe comeback for East Orange that began, first, with that sturdy defense holding its ground after allowing 17 points in the first half. Then it was in the capable hands of senior quarterback Raeden Oliver, who forced OT with a 4-yard touchdown pass to junior Joshua Richards to knot the score at 17-17 with 19 seconds remaining in regulation.
Oliver, who displayed tremendous poise and running ability in the latter stages of the game, gave East Orange its first lead, 24-17, when he again found Richards with a bullet across the middle, this time for 14 yards to start the second overtime following a scoreless first extra session.
Vellis showed his own bit of craftiness and nerve facing a fourth-and-nine from the 24 on the ensuing possession. After narrowly escaping a sack, Vellis rolled to his left and threw across his body to senior Omar Muheisen for a 21-yard pickup. Senior Bryan Feliciano ran in from the three on the next play and Ryan Lizner kicked the PAT to force that third OT, which was dominated by runs from Feliciano and fellow senior Jacob Maldonado, and then that final surge by Vellis.
“I thought we got robbed. Not saying that they don’t deserve to win the football game because that’s a great football team over there, but that’s how you’re going to end a great football game? With a call like that? said Clifton head coach Ralph Cinque.”
Asked if he heard an explanation from the officiating crew, Cinque said, “Not one. They ran off the field. The guy who made the call ran off the field?”
Then asked what players on the field thought, he said, ”They all saw a touchdown. The kid (Vellis) is 6-1. He was on the 1/2-yard line. I don’t know how they got it wrong.”
Nalls, the East Orange teammates who urged him to truck along and the officials did see it differently, this giving the Jaguars an incredible finish to the most incredible season in program history.
The 2007 team won the North 1, Group 5 title - just as this team did - but that squad closed at 11-1. That also was before the regional championship game had been introduced.
“This is an unreal moment. That’s like something that comes out of the movies,” Nalls said. “Couldn’t have happened any better.”
And it would not have had the defense morphed back into the suffocating group that had allowed a total 14 points over the previous five games and only 76 points all year entering this game.
But their restored prowess was just part of it. East Orange also needed the tough, durable running of senior Damon Philips, who ran for 129 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries, and the quick-thinking, dart-throwing Oliver, who passed for 142 yards and those two TDs to Richards and also rushed 11 times for 91 yards.
Vellis hit on 9 of 11 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown and Feliciano carried 30 times for 129 yards and one TD.
“I wasn’t going to let our team lose. No one from our team put in my position was going to let our team lose,” Oliver said. “Our team really fought through so much adversity to get to this game. Because I was in this position, I wasn’t going to let this opportunity go away.”
Earlier in the second half, it did appear as if the Jaguars might fritter away opportunities that had been presented to the offense by that unrelenting ‘D,’ led by Pitt commit Kyle Lous (a game-high 11 tackles), Akeerie McFarlane, Elijah McClain, Chris Amos, Moungue Nyame and Nalls. Marvin Bailey, Luke Ceneri, Nick Burgess and Maldonado anchored the defense for Clifton.
East Orange marched 79 yards in eight plays to the Clifton 27, but was stopped short of the first-down marker on fourth-and-one bu Muheisen and Owen Riordan. with 11:08 left in the contest. On its next possession, East Orange pushed its way to the Clifton three, where it faced a second-and-goal. The Jaguars fumbled at the two, and Muheisen was there to recover for the Mustangs.
Despite the first-half disadvantage, fourth-down stop and goal-line fumble, Oliver insisted that he and his teammates maintained faith.
“Honestly, going into halftime I was very confident. After the fumble in the fourth quarter, I still remained confident and my guys remained confident,” he said. “We knew the defense was gonna make plays, was sure they were gonna make big stops. I’m so thankful that we were able to get the offense the ball and give us a chance.”
And as Oliver stepped back in the pocket and assessed his best chance, he twice called to the 6-3 Richards, who came in with 24 receptions for 480 yards and seven touchdowns, and caught seven throws from Oliver for 64 yards and those two TDs on Sunday.
“Josh is such a reliable receiver. I know if I tried to get him the ball, he was going to make a play,” Oliver said. “It’s such a great thing that he made those two catches. Our backs were against the wall and we had to make plays.”
The Mustangs opened the game with a 15-play, 74-yard scoring drive that used up 6:24, and then scored on the next series with another move that exhausted more than six minutes - and that steadfast East Orange defense - to grab a 10-7 lead with 6:40 to go in the first half.
Clifton used a methodical approach behind Vellis’ cool-headed orchestration and the rugged running of both Feliciano and Maldonado to score on those first two possessions, and then went the fast route on its third series of the half. On first and 10 from the Clifton three-yard line, Vellis hit Donovan Swasey in stride at the Mustang 36, where he shook his defender and streaked along the left sideline to complete a 97-yard scoring play that opened a 17-7 lead with 1:29 to go in the half.
East Orange did answer back with points, a 28-yard field goal by Gibson as the half ended. Still, that defense had been stung in a way most opponents had never come close to accomplishing.
That E.O. defense had allowed only 14 total points over its previous five games and had not allowed more than 17 points in any game since opening the season with a 37-28 victory over Montclair.
“In the second half we just said we can’t let up, can’t let this go. We have to get this win,” Nalls said. “This is everything we fought for. So basically we just came back, played our hearts out and did our very best that we could.”
East Orange had struck back after Clifton’s first TD, a 1-yard keeper by Vellis. The Jaguars moved 62 yards in eight plays with Damon Phillips capping it with a nine-yard run with 51 seconds to go in the quarter.
Clifton jumped right back on its clock-chewing horse, though this time settled for a 28-yard field goal by Ryan Lizner for a 10-7 lead with 6:40 to go in the half.
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Patrick Lanni may be reached at planni@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatLanniHS and like his Facebook page.
Mike Kinney can be reached at mkinney@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MikeKinneyHS.
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