6,000 watch Montclair win New Jersey public-school showdown with East Orange Campus

MONTCLAIR, N.J. – Fans started filing into Woodman Field two-plus hours beforehand, filling the stands behind the home sideline and circling the facility. Before Montclair (N.J.) received the opening kickoff Saturday afternoon against neighboring rival East Orange Campus (East Orange, N.J.), 6,000 fans created an atmosphere belying the fact this was a regular-season game between New Jersey public-school powers.

In the Garden State, crowds like this usually occur only on two occasions. One is the NJSIAA Playoffs every December at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. The other is any Friday night or Saturday afternoon wherever Don Bosco Prep is playing.

But on Saturday afternoon, a pair of Group 4 public schools proved their drawing power in the 21st Century's biggest game between New Jersey non-public programs, a 48-minute tussle that saw Montclair emerge with an impressive 35-7 triumph.

"This is what high school football's all about," Montclair Assistant Principal for Athletics and Student Activities John Porcelli said.

Montclair (6-0) entered the season as a state-title contender in the North 1, Group 4 bracket, but built a steadily growing buzz after defeating perennial state power, St. Peter's Prep, in its season opener at Rutgers University' High Point Solutions Stadium. However, the cavernous facility offered little in the way of the pomp and circumstance so often associated, and celebrated, with high school football.

Many of the fans filling the Woodman Field bleachers either played for or watched their hometown Mounties capture some of their 27 state championships; the banners adorn the fence circling the field. They wore blue and voiced full-throated roars for much of four quarters, starting when senior Donte' Bellamy made a big tackle on fourth-and-goal from the 1 to thwart the Jaguars' opening drive – and atone for a wayward punt snap that produced a 24-yard-loss gave East Orange Campus possession on the Montclair 21.

"We've never seen that many fans show up to a game," Bellamy said. "We did it for Montclair. This was for the whole town."

From there, Montclair put forth a performance that made you think they could, at the very least, compete against Bergen Catholic, Don Bosco Prep or Holy Spirit – the state's top-three, non-public programs.

Although Montclair coach John Fiore praised a "great senior class" that includes Bellamy and Rutgers-bound two-way lineman Julian Pinnix-Odrick, he also lines up arguably the most electrifying player in the state in senior quarterback Khalif Herbin. Following a slow start, Herbin turned broken plays into big gains routinely, including a 64-yard scoring scamper late in the first half that not only staked the Mounties to a 28-0 lead, but also made him Montclair's all-time leader in touchdowns scored.

For good measure, Herbin sprinted around right end and up the sideline for 20 yards before the 5-foot-7, 170-pound dynamo lowered his shoulder at the 1 and bulled his way through the tackle of an East Orange defender for his fourth touchdown of the day and 50th in a career that is becoming legendary.

"I've been doing this since I was a kid, so I don't really think about it," said Herbin, who rushed for 185 yards and three scores on 22 carries and also threw for a touchdown. "It's just natural to me. It's a God-given ability and I appreciate it."

Added Fiore with a laugh: "I think he amazes everybody."

Although the final score Saturday provided something of a letdown in this anticipated battle between neighboring rivals, fans and players alike will remember playing before 6,000 fans in New Jersey's biggest public-school contest in the 21st Century.

"It's crazy. It's unlike anything I've ever seen," said Herbin, shaking his head. "We played in the state championship last year and it was nowhere near the atmosphere of this game."