HILLSIDE, NJ — A new era of Hillside High School football is under way on Conant Street, one that is following the best period of Comets football ever.
Barris Grant, who guided Hillside to three state championships in a row, a 12-0 record and regional championship in 2019 and multiple playoff appearances during his nine-season stint as head coach from 2016-2024, is now the head football coach at Union High School.
Taking over as head coach is Isa Abdul-Quddus, who was born in Elizabeth and who played at Union before graduating in 2007. Abdul-Quddus then starred collegiately at Fordham University before realizing his ultimate dream of reaching the National Football League as an undrafted free agent in 2011.
Abdul-Quddus, one of the top defensive players in Union County during his junior and senior seasons at Union in 2005 and 2006, went on to play in the NFL for the New Orleans Saints, Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins.
Abdul-Quddus started 15 games in his first season with the Dolphins in 2016, recording a career-high 78 tackles, along with five passes defended from his safety position. Abdul-Quddus also had two interceptions and one sack.
Abdul-Quddus was placed on injured reserve in December of 2016, after suffering a neck injury in Week 16 against the Buffalo Bills. He was released in March of 2017, signaling the end of his professional career.
In the same manner as Grant, back in 2016, this is the first head coaching stint for Abdul-Quddus.
“I wanted to come back in the area that I grew up in and teach the lessons I learned,” Abdul-Quddus said. “I have a lot of knowledge and I’m ready to give some of it back.”
Hillside has qualified for the playoffs the last seven years there were playoffs, every year since 2017. Before Grant, Hillside won only one sectional state championship and that was North 2, Group 2 way back in 1985.
The only year Hillside did not make the playoffs with Grant was his first year in 2016, when the Comets finished 4-6. The only other Grant team that did not finish better than .500 was last year’s squad that came in at 5-5 after closing with two straight defeats, the second in the playoffs to Haddonfield Memorial High School.
This year’s squad is hungry to better last year’s final record and continue its streak of making the playoffs at season’s end.
“So far, things have been great,” said senior Kamari Robinson. “Our execution has to be better. Last year, we didn’t execute as well as we should have.”
“Coach brings to us a whole new aspect of leadership,” senior Justin Ashford said. “Right now, we’re taking every rep at 100 percent.”
Hillside opened Week Zero last year and was able to get a win against Henry Snyder High School of Jersey City, before facing tougher competition in Bernards and Summit high schools, teams to which the Comets fell. Hillside rebounded to get to 5-3 after its first eight games and made the playoffs once again.
“There are a lot of hungry, competitive kids here,” Abdul-Quddus said. “Working on the little things is so important. A lot of guys have talent, but you need to also pay attention to the smaller details in order to be successful as a team.”
Hillside opens during Week One at home against Bernards High School at 1 p.m. at John Zappulla Field. The teams clashed in the season-finale in 2010, with the visiting Comets coming out on top, 24-12. Since 2014, they have faced each other every year, building a neat Union County vs. Somerset County rivalry.
In the last 11 meetings in the last 11 seasons, Hillside has won six times and Bernards five, including the last two seasons. Hillside won four in a row in the series from 2017 to 2020.
For four straight seasons, they faced each other in their season-opener, 2020 at Hillside, 2021 at Rutgers University, 2022 at Bernards and 2023 at Hillside.
Bernards is 47-8 this decade, including capturing the program’s first sectional state championship in the playoff era in 2023, which was the North 2, Group 2 crown.
Hillside Comets 2025
Saturday, Sept. 6, Bernards, 1 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 13, at Summit, 1 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 20, Scotch Plains–Fanwood, 1 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 26, at Somerville, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 4, at Abraham Clark, 2 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 11, Carteret, 1 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 18, at Voorhees, 1 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 25, Cranford, 1 p.m.
Photo by JR Parachini
