Two high school football teams in Newark were honored by Mayor Ras Baraka, who gave Weequahic and Shabazz schools proclamations for reaching the state championship.

The Newark teams admitted that it's not always easy getting to the championship, due to issues beyond their control off the field. 

Weequahic's coach Brian Logan points to an incident around five years ago when one of his players was murdered. He hopes a game between two Newark squads will serve to heal the city from such incidents.



"We have to rise above the ordinary," says Logan. "We have to take it to the next step."

Weequahic won their previous game against Shabazz on Thanksgiving.

"If it was anybody else, I guess it would be a little tough because we came out on the wrong side of things," says Shabazz coach Darnell Grant. "But this rivalry is so deep and intense that it takes nothing...We can't wait to play again."

The teams will play Saturday morning at 10 a.m. at Kean University.