North Plainfield’s Jordan Bird (5) and his teammates (Source: Twitter)
The North Plainfield football team entered the 2021 season with three captains. But it wasn’t long before two of them were down for the count: Keiahn Grenald, and Khan-Yae Stevens.
Stevens was Central Jersey Sports Radio’s “Jack-of-All-Trades” last year – and an honorable mention for Two-Way Player of the Year – meaning he does a little of everything, and now that was missing. And Grenald is one of the more electrifying players in the league as well.
In stepped senior linebacker/H-back Jordan Bird, who may helped keep the team together after a 1-3 start to go 5-1 the rest of the way, finishing 6-4, to go 13-5 the past two seasons. It helped the Canucks go .500 in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2007-08.
Click below to listen to Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dom Savino talk with Jordan Bird:
Honorable mentions in the “Leadership Award” category include Connor Tracy of Governor Livingston and Josh Oluremi of Colonia.
Tracy is the son of GL offensive coordinator Bill Tracy, the former Ridge coach. As the starting quarterback the last two years, he’s thrown for 1,129 yards and 10 TDs. But more importantly, he was a “consummate leader” all year, and came in early before practice to work with a young ballclub in a rebuilding year. His coaches call him “a great role model and leader for our program regardless of circumstance,” referring to the Highlandeers winning just one game this year.
Oluremi, a QB/CB for the Patriots, rushed for 1,594 yards and 20 TDs this year, while throwing for 954 yards, but more notably led by example. A two-year captain, he has a 3.9 GPA and is a member of two honor societies. He also participates in the “Heroes and Cool Kids” mentorship program in the district middle schools.