Belleville football makes history with Ivy White Division title

With a large senior class, a large part of which has started for three or four seasons, Belleville head coach Brain Antab knew this was the year for this veteran group to do something special if it could maintain a sharp focus every week.

Friday night saw the Bucs do just that when it went to Kearny and defeated the Kardinals, 40-21, to clinch the Super Football Conference Ivy White Division title.

It is the first division title in more than 15 years for Belleville, which improved to 7-0 on the season.

While teams in the Ivy divisions are ineligible to compete in the state tournament, the divisions’ top four teams do have their own postseason for an overall league championship and on Thursday, Belleville will have its first home playoff game in at least four decades when it hosts Ridgefield Park on Thursday.

“We’ve really been focused every week on getting to that next game,” Antab said. “Last year we felt like we had the talent to be in the playoffs, but we lost some close games. The guys really had the focus this year of not letting anything slip away and being locked in every week.

“They enjoy the wins, winning is fun, but they’re definitely showing that they’re hungry for more.”

Jordan Armstrong completed 12-of-18 passes for 204 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for a TD. The senior, four-year starter is enjoying one of the finest statistical seasons in program history, throwing for 1,007 yards and 18 touchdowns, while leading an offense that is averaging 33.4 points per game.

“He’s been seeing the field well, making good decisions,” said Antab. “And we have some pretty good playmakers on the outside and he’s getting the ball in their hands and they’re making plays.”

Two of those TD passes went to Jailen Sharpe, who enjoyed a career night receiving with eight catches for 110 yards. Jaden Westfield added two touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving), and Jasiah O’Uhuru, making his first start at running back, ran for 104 yards and a TD on 15 carries in place of the injured Nathan Anabwani, who himself grew into a prominent role due to injuries.

On defense, Lorenzo Tiankee and Keith Greeley each recovered fumbles for Belleville, which got six tackles apiece from Samad Conway, Tiankee and Victor Adams.

Despite the unprecedented winning streak and the attention that comes with it, Antab doesn’t see a team that has let it become a distraction. Instead, he sees a group that knows that it is two wins away from reaching its ultimate goal of a championship.

The Belleville-Ridgefield Park winner will face the winner of the Fort Lee-North Bergen semifinal matchup in the title game on Oct. 29 at North Bergen.

“I don’t think we’re going to be satisfied until we reach the end goal, which would be getting to that championship game,” Antab said. “But it’s definitely exciting to be winning football games for a program that hasn’t had a ton of success, both historically and recently.”

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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer

Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)