During the summer of 2024, West Orange High School’s newspaper, The Pioneer, had the opportunity to participate in the WOHS Sports Fall Media Day. At this event, the varsity athletes not only had their pictures taken for promotional purposes, but they also were able to be interviewed by members of The Pioneer in a press conference style.
On August 7th, the student journalists interviewed the WOHS Football team and got to hear insight on how they are going into the 24-25 season and what they expect as a team. This press conference featured senior captains from the team, including Syracuse University committed wide receiver Terrell Wilfong, senior quarterback, and Bucknell University commit Charlie LaMorte, receiver I’yan Gainer, senior tight end Eahjay McAdams, senior offensive lineman Eric Sanabria, and the head coach of the team, Darnell Grant.
Last season, the team ended with a 5-5 record and 2-0 in their conference, making it to the NJSIAA Tournament Semifinal Round in North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5. After playing an excellent season, they lost in a tough game to Union City 20-14 on November 3rd.
This year, the team is trying to really prove themselves on the field. “Our class of 2025 was the first freshman team in history to go undefeated,” says Wilfong, regarding making a big impact after losing the seniors from last season. Towards the end of last season, many of the seniors were injured, which ultimately hurt them come playoff time, and now they want to “…pick up where they left off.”
When it comes to mindset of challenging games, Wilfong feels that the players need to “come together as a team”. He goes on to say that if the team has a bad practice, that they can not show the weaknesses from practice at a game. “At the end of the day, we are all one big family and one big brotherhood” he states.
The players say that they feed off the energy they receive from the West Orange fans. It brings “motivation” for them. This motivation translates to exceptional play on the field. “When you make a big play and you hear everyone yelling…it makes us want to keep going and just make more plays” say Wilfong. The players also motivate each other to put in one hundred and ten percent of their effort on the field.
This season, the West Orange team has high hopes and expectations. Combined with their senior players taking leadership roles, and the young talent coming up to varsity, everybody is expecting a lot from these players. Coach Grant says, “Everyone has a role, and [the team] expects [that player] to do their job at the highest possible level.” Grant really emphasizes accountability.
The big takeaway from this press conference is understanding the accountability this team has. All the coaches and players use accountability as not only a model for success, but also a motivation tool for players. Hopefully we will see the level of accountability equate to success on the field for the 24-25 West Orange High School Mountaineer Football Team.
