Bengals Football Looks to Get Back in Win Category on 'Senior Night', as Paterson Kennedy Visits on Oct. 11

It was a tough game on Oct. 4, as the Bloomfield High football team dropped a 38-0 decision to East Orange Campus, at Foley Field.

Bloomfield fell to 2-4 with the setback. The loss also snapped a 2-game winning streak for the Bengals. The team is 2-1 on the road and 0-3 at home.

The Bengals will be home on Oct. 11, for its final regular season home game, against Paterson Kennedy. Kickoff time is 6:30 p.m., on 'Senior Night'.

Versus East Orange, the Bengals faced a strong opponent.

"East Orange is a very talented team," said BHS head coach Mike Carter of the Jaguars, who improved to 4-1 on the season. "They had good size and speed, and play a physical game."

The Bengals trailed, 7-0, after one quarter, but East Orange Campus pulled ahead and held a double-digit lead by halftime.

On defense, the Bengals got a good performance from Viraj Moore and Tyler Frantantoni, who each had six tackles. Christian Cradle and DJ Coltenback had five tackles a piece. Alejandro Valencia recovered a pair of fumbles while Sebastian Urena also recovered a fumble for Bloomfield.

Ukoha Kalu had 2 1/2 sacks for the Bengals while Coltenback and Chris Guerrero each had half a sack.

The Bengals and JFK Knights will renew an old-time rivalry on Friday. JFK has played well this season, and will come to Foley Field with a 3-3 record.

While Bloomfield and Paterson Kennedy were once big NNJIL rivals, the schools have not played each other, on the varsity gridiron since 2008. Bloomfield leads the all-time series, 13-10-1 and has won the last nine meetings. The Bengals have shutout the Knights six straight times heading into this year's game, but bear in mind, the last matchup was 16 years ago.

In the early days of this rivalry, Kennedy had dominated, winning six of the first seven, with the other game being a tie. The first-ever matchup was in 1982, with Kennedy prevailing, 20-0. Bloomfield's first-ever win in the series came in 1990, 10-7. Kennedy's last win in the rivalry came in 1997, 28-6.

Following this Friday night's game, Bloomfield closes out the regular season at Livingston, on Oct. 18, in a 7 p.m. kickoff and on Oct. 25, the Bengals visit West Orange, in a 7:30 p.m. start.

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