Mounties wrap up successful 2020 season at 4-4

Senior Abdullah Hamilton (52) leads the Mounties out onto the field.

The 2020 Montclair High School football season came to an end two days earlier than anticipated, as the Mounties’ scheduled Thanksgiving Eve finale at Elizabeth was canceled Monday morning, after the Minutemen announced they were shutting their program down for the season out of COVID-19-related concerns.

Though the Mounties actively sought a replacement opponent on short notice, no agreement could be reached, and head coach John Fiore informed his coaches and players Monday afternoon that Montclair’s season had finished.

This most unusual season in the 125-year history of Montclair High School football got underway later than typical, as the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the coaches and players from holding organized workouts until the last week of July — and then, with Woodman Field unavailable, the Mounties made their own space at Glenfield Park, the home of the Montclair Cobras youth program.

The season ends with MHS on a high note, winning three of their final four games to even their record at 4-4, following a three-game losing stretch in October that saw the Blue and White hang tough with three teams ranked in the statewide Top 20 at the time they played.

And perhaps most importantly, the season ends with Montclair successfully having navigated the COVID pandemic, with Fiore crediting his players and coaching staff for following protocols, with assistance from the high school’s medical staff and administration. Of the 112 schools who are part of the North Jersey Super Football Conference, Montclair was one of just 19 who played in each of the first eight weeks of the 2020 season, and they were ready and willing to find a ninth game this week after Elizabeth’s cancellation.

“This was the strangest season I’ve ever had as a coach, certainly,” Fiore said. “Our success has always been predicated on our program’s offseason work, which has always been at an elite level, and COVID took that away from us. But we found a way to get back on the field. Our medical folks put protocols into place to keep us safe, and that gave our kids the opportunity to have as close to a normal season as we could give them. Our schools being virtual certainly played a role as well. But it all started with our players doing what they needed to do.”

2020 marked the first season Montclair has played fewer than nine games in a season since 1948. But during those eight games, the Mounties — while inconsistent on both sides of the ball at times — showed off their heart, overcoming numerous injuries to key players, especially on offense, to provide an explosive offense and a disruptive defense.

Offensively, MHS was led by the two-headed backfield monster of senior quarterback Michael Robinson and junior halfback Jordan Williams.

Robinson completed 30-of-69 passes for 469 yards and 6 touchdowns, and wraps up his two-year career as the Mounties’ starting signal-caller with 1,311 passing yards and 18 touchdowns.

The senior QB also led Montclair in rushing for the season, gaining nearly seven yards per carry (677 yards, 98 carries) and running for 8 touchdowns.

Additionally, Robinson caught five passes for 68 yards in situations when junior QB Solomon Brennan spelled him under center; Brennan completed 15 of 33 passes for 186 yards and a score this season.

Both Robinson and fellow senior Jordan Diggs — who suffered a leg injury in the opener against Bloomfield, and returned late in the season for limited duty — both leave Montclair as career 1,000-yard rushers, the ninth and 10th Mounties to reach that mark under Fiore. Diggs, who ran for more than 1,200 yards as a junior, finishes his Mountie career with 1,512 rushing yards and 15 TDs, while Robinson’s career totals are 1,174 yards and 18 TDs.

Williams, the Mounties’ two-way standout at running back and linebacker, will be the leading returning rusher for 2021. He gained 598 yards on 97 rushes, scoring four TDs.

Four seniors led the way at wide receiver, with Sean Brown (4 catches, 126 yards, 2 TDs) ahead of Aqeel Plant (8 for 121, 1 TD), Justin Kirkley (5 for 105, 2 TD), and Jack Sullivan (6 for 77). Sophomore Saboor Karriem will be next year’s leading returner, having caught 7 for 70 and 2 TDs.

Offensive line standouts this year included center Rafael Dagnino, guards Eli Dawson and Eli Pinillis, and tackles Wyatt Tobin and Ethan Daddabo. Dawson and Dagnino will graduate, but the other three are juniors, as is Yabsira Yemane, who saw some time and started a game at tackle.

Defensively, Jordan Williams led the Mounties in tackles (51) sacks (4.5), and forced fumbles (3). A two-year starter at LB who also saw time as a freshman, Williams has recorded 126 career tackles and figures to be among the top players on defense as a senior next fall.

Senior safety Jaheim Lowe provided a number of big hits among his 49 tackles (4 for loss), while also breaking up four passes, forcing two fumbles, and returning a fumble for a touchdown. Senior linebacker Justin Kirkley disrupted a number of plays, recording 42 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks. Linebackers Max Haley-Coley, a junior, and senior Aqeel Plant also made in impact, accounting for 44 and 24 tackles, respectively.

Senior Dhani Clifford (45 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks) and speedy junior Elijah Halley (28 tackles, 5 for loss, 2.0 sacks) held down the defensive end spots, while a number of interior linemen saw action, led by junior Yabsira Yemane (21 tackles) and senior Abdullah Hamilton (19 tackles, 3 for loss).

Senior cornerback Eavrie Grant had Montclair’s only two interceptions of the season, one of which he returned 83 yards for a touchdown against Bloomfield. Grant also broke up 10 opponents’ passes to lead the team.

On special teams, the Mounties got a solid year from sophomore Gage Hammond, who succeeded on 19 of 23 PAT kicks, with two of the more misses having been blocked. Hammond also connected on field goals of 35 yards (at East Brunswick) and 28 yards (vs. Clifton). Hammond also recorded three touchbacks in 33 kickoffs, and averaged exactly 30 yards in 18 punts this season.

The Mounties’ special-teams highlight in 2020 was undoubtedly the win over Belleville on Nov. 14, when Yemane and Semaj Adams both blocked punts that were recovered in the end zone for touchdowns (by James Valvano and Yemane, respectively).

MHS opened the season Oct. 2 with a rousing 57-14 win over Bloomfield, scoring 29 first-quarter points on Robinson TD passes to Plant and Karriem, a Robinson run, and Grant’s interception return. The quarterback threw for 193 yards, ran for 131, and accounted for four TD runs in total as the Mounties cruised.

A frustrating three-game homestand that followed saw the Mounties hold East Orange to just 208 yards of offense, but be unable to move the ball against a stout Jaguar defense in a 13-0 loss on Oct. 10. The offense was better the following Saturday, Oct. 17, against West Orange, but MHS could not overcome five turnovers leading to 28 Mountaineer points in a 35-6 West Orange win.

The following Saturday, following the postponement of a game against Livingston for COVID concerns, the first of four schedule changes the team would face this year, Montclair led a solid Clifton team 16-7 late in the first half, but turnovers again proved to be the Mounties’ undoing. Clifton scored three touchdowns in the game’s final 26 minutes off of a fumble and two interceptions, and a late MHS comeback fell short, 28-23.

In Week Five, the 1-3 Mounties replaced a postponed Barringer game with a trip to East Brunswick in the teams’ first-ever meeting. Led by 123 rushing yards from Robinson and a pair of Williams TD runs, the Mounties jumped out to a 31-7 halftime lead — capped by a perfectly-run two-minute drill leading to a Hammond field goal as time expired. And though the Middlesex County team pulled within two scores in the fourth quarter, Montclair ground out an eight-minute drive to drain the clock.

Montclair struggled mightily in Week Six, falling 37-0 to a very physical and fast Irvington squad. The Blue Knights made big plays happen in key 3rd-down spots, and limited MHS to just 139 yards of total offense.

The following week, however, Montclair proved to be unstoppable on offense, scoring 48 points on just 21 offensive snaps in a 48-20 win over Belleville. That game was scheduled just about 24 hours before it kicked off after a very late postponement from Nutley. Robinson (137 yards, 2 TDs) and Williams (88 yards) were again the top rushers, while Kirkley caught a 59-yard touchdown pass.

And finally, in Week Eight, the Mounties closed things out with a definitive 28-8 win over a rugged Paterson Eastside team that had won four of its previous six games, led by Williams’ best rushing game of his career (182 yards on 23 carries). Montclair racked up 377 yards of total offense, the most it had recorded since the opener against Bloomfield, and its defense had its best statistical day of the season, limiting the Ghosts to just 93 yards.