The 25th annual Paul Robeson All-Star Football Classic will be played Thursday, June 14, starting at 7 p.m.
Once again, the neighboring towns of Belleville, Nutley, Bloomfield and Glen Ridge will have representatives playing on the East squad. The game will be played at Robeson Stadium in East Orange.
The East roster is made up of high school senior players from Essex and Hudson counties while the West consists of senior standouts from Passaic, Morris and Sussex counties.Last year’s contest was an exciting game as the East won in overtime, 13-7, before an enthusiastic crowd.
In addition to the game, the Essex County Football Coaches Hall of Fame will once again open its doors, with four new inductees. The late Joseph D’Ambola, a very popular assistant coach at Belleville High for 30 years, will join longtime Glen Ridge coach Duke Mendez, along with the late Tom Dean, a tremendous football coach at East Orange, and Irvin “Poochie” Hill, when the 2018 class is inducted the night of the game.
Locally, Glen Ridge High quarterback Tyler Liddy will see action in the game, as will Nutley’s Luis Abreu and Anthony Alberti, Bloomfield’s Marcus Wolf, Joe Pentz and Jeremy Witherspoon and Mahmoud Youssef of Belleville.
Abreu, Alberti and Youssef are talented offensive linemen, Wolf is a punter, Pentz will see time on the offensive line and Witherspoon is a speedy tailback.The induction of Coach Joe D’Ambola has generated a great deal of excitement for longtime Belleville High football fans.