West Orange has found their QB + West Orange vs. Montclair Preview

“I want to win it all this year.” Charlie LaMorte doesn't plan on wasting his first year at West Orange High School, instead, he has clear goals in mind. The 6 '2, 210 pound rising Junior transferred from Don Bosco Prep down to Essex County earlier this month to play for Darnell Grant’s Mountaineers of West Orange High School. Last year, LaMorte was the JV Quarterback and this summer, … At West Orange Lamort entered a quarterback “battle” with Deven Sisler, who stands at 6 '4 and who himself transferred in from Central Regional HS in Bayville. Sisler would end up winning won the competition and in Don Bosco’s first game, he went 11 of 28, for 103 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. LaMorte didn’t get down on himself after losing the job, but instead took it as a learning opportunity. “Competition with Deven [Sisler] was great, made me work harder and harder each day knowing that someone is always trying to be better than me,” LaMorte said. He now has a tough task, taking over for now William Paterson University QB Amir Stewart, who led West Orange to a sectional title last season. LaMorte has to sit out until Week 5 due to the NJSIAA’s new transfer rules so it’s a battle between Jasia Mumford-Lee, Junior, 5-7, 150 and David Moore, Sophomore, 5-10, 165 who are both still technically competing for the starting job come week one. 

West Orange opens up this season, Saturday, (September 7th), at 7pm at Hinchliffe Stadium in Patterson. The Mountaineers are led by a tough linebacker core that includes Syracuse commit Zekai Wimberly, Senior, 6-3, 230 who is a returning starter on inside as well as Chris Barrino, Junior, 5-11, 205, another returning starter on inside who led the team with 87 tackles as a Sophomore. Adonis White, Senior, 5-8, 165 is back at running back after gaining 800 yards last year and he’ll be spelled by Rayel Hunter, Senior, 5-9, 185, who  will get carries and is a returning starter at slot receiver. In the secondary is I’yan Gainer, Junior, 5-10, 160, returning starter at free safety who had 63 tackles last season and Myles Snead, Senior, 5-10, 180, a 3-year starter at strong safety who also had 80 tackles last year. “We have a lot of hard-nosed, tough guys. We may not have the flash of last year’s team, but we should be an efficient group,” said Head Coach Darnell Grant earlier this summer. West Orange is slated to play a good Montclair team, led by Malachi ‘Bubba’ Lewis, who dominated Clifton 30-15 in their opening game. Lewis, a transfer from Morris Catholic, shined going 6 of 15, for 133 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Senior Yasin Lathan heads up the running game for Montclair after averaging 3.4 yards a carry versus Clifton. David Thom-Rogers, a Senior, who stands at 6-3, 170 is the teams starting receiver. ‘DTR,’ as he’s affectionately known, is a 3 year varsity starter and holds an offer from Syracuse. My prediction is a 22-17 Montclair victory. I think the way Lewis played last week versus Clifton is enough to ‘win’ against a secondary as strong as West Orange. Also I think the fact that Mumford-Lee, Moore, and LaMorte have all been splitting first team reps all summer will have an impact on West Oranges quarterback play whether it be Mumford-Lee or Moore.