EAST ORANGE — Hillside football players have come up big in June all-star games in the recent past.
Daysun Looby, a standout two-way lineman, was the latest.
The 2026 Hillside High School graduate, who wore No. 50 for the Comets and played on the varsity the past two seasons for head coach Barris Grant in 2024 and first-year head coach Isa Abdul-Quddus in 2025, excelled in the 32nd edition of the popular football contest named the Robeson Classic.
The Robeson Classic was on Tuesday, June 9, at Robeson Stadium in East Orange.
For his outstanding efforts on defense, Looby was selected as the game’s East Defense MVP, as he helped lead the East to an 18-3 triumph.
Looby produced 2.5 quarterback sacks, as he was one of the best players on the field the entire night.
Hillside 2023 graduate Caleb Salters earned East Offense MVP honors in the 2023 Robeson Classic, played at Belleville High School’s Doc Ellis Field at Municipal Stadium. The West won that game and it was the first Robeson Classic in which players from Union County participated.
“We had a great group,” said Newark Central and East head coach Mark Ingram of this season’s East squad. “We had kids who were just active and attentive in paying attention to detail. I didn’t have to tell them anything twice and I think that’s why we came out prepared to play the way we did.”
Defensively, the East’s front seven dominated the game from the jump, limiting the West’s potent rushing attack and forcing them into passing situations – perfect for the East’s group of big, fast defensive linemen and linebackers, who made life miserable for the opposing quarterbacks. All told, the West managed just 87 yards of total offense and five first downs.
“We had tons of guys get after it defensively,” Ingram said. “It just made things very easy when we got them into passing downs and guys could just let it rip. We had some really talented guys up front who could just do their thing.”
This past season, Looby had 30 total tackles for the Comets, including 23 assisted and seven solo. Six of his tackles were for losses, while two of those were quarterback sacks.
After edging perennial playoff power Cranford High School, 23-22, in its home finale, Hillside was defeated at Weequahic High School, 18-13, in a sectional consolation game to conclude its 2025 campaign at 3-6. The year before, Hillside closed at 5-5 in 2024, after reaching the Central Jersey, Group 2 playoffs.
Hillside last won a playoff game in 2022 and last produced a winning season in 2023, going 6-3 that season.
This year, Hillside’s final two scrimmages are at Essex County schools Weequahic on Saturday, Aug. 22, at 10 a.m., and at Columbia High School on Friday, Aug. 28, at 7 p.m.
Hillside is scheduled to open its 2026 campaign at home at John Zappulla Field against Roselle’s Abraham Clark High School on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 1 p.m.
Photo Courtesy of Kevin Meacham
