“Expectations are very high,” says offensive line coach, Chris Demond as he and the team look forward to this weekend when the VHS Hillbillies football team opens its season Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Newark Public School Stadium against Newark East Side.

The VHS Hillbillies have been preparing for this moment since June, but practices and scrimmages are over and on Saturday the Hillbillies will be taking the field against their first of eight opponents.

East Side (0-1) is coming off their first lost after losing to Kearny 34-6 in a game in which they struggled to move the ball down the field.

On defense, Verona lost  key seniors Matt McKeown and Luke Weiss to graduation  but defensive coordinator Mitchell Roshong said, “Jimmie Crawford, Sam Cummings, and the rest of the defense have stepped up.”

The coaching staff of the VHS Hillbillies has set lofty goals: to be conference champions, state champions, and to beat Caldwell on Thanksgiving. And this year they may have the chemistry to reach all those goals because of the strong core of captains this year.

Currently Verona is ranked tenth in the Super Essex Conference behind Shabazz who is ranked ninth and is in Verona’s division. The Hillbillies will play Shabazz on October 18. This and their matchup with Millburn are the biggest games because all three are favorites to win the conference this year.

The Hillbillies need to do several things if they want to win this weekend. First and foremost, they need to move the ball down the field and convert on third and fourth down situations. Second, they need stop the East Side running game and finally they need to get the ball in the air. Senior quarterback, Frank Ferrari, has the receivers who can make the plays downfield. An effective offense uses both the pass and the rush to move the ball towards the endzone, and Verona should not have a problem doing this against a weaker defense.

Come out and support the Hillbillies in their first game on their road to MetLife Stadium and a state championship.

Fairviewer Prediction: Hillbillies 28- East Side 10