'Everybody loved him': Rahway football honors late teammate with emotional win

JERSEY CITY – The Rahway football players reached for the heavens, one hand shaking five fingers and the other hand lifting up two, while chanting “For Ali.”

“That’s for you Ali”

“Ali”

In unison, it was like a warm group hug and a collective high-five for their teammate, No. 52 Ali Muhammad, his name scribbled on their T-shirts and no doubt tattooed in their spirit.

Wednesday, the senior went to practice and then unexpectedly died some time afterward and didn't wake up for school.

The news broke Thursday when students saw his dad’s Facebook post, and it was publicly Tweeted out that evening by the football team.

Head coach Brian Russo and his coaches asked the seniors if they still wanted to play against Lincoln High School just over 24 hours later.

The answer – we’re playing.

So Friday, Rahway headed up north, past the Statue of Liberty and under a full moon transformed their raw feelings into hard-hitting football mode and defeated Lincoln 45-16 at Cavan Point Sports Complex.

It wasn’t so easy, especially when the players held a moment of silence in the locker room before quietly heading out, and then stood for a moment of silence on the field.

The PA announcer noted what they already knew, “Ali represented all that is right about high school sports. He loved the game. He loved his teammates and his coaches and was a credit to Rahway High School.”

Yeah, it wasn’t easy.

“I was a little bit close to crying,” said Rahway senior defensive end Jalen Barnes, “but you know, had to toughen up for Ali. Got a game to play. We won this for Ali. We all came as a team. We had prayers for Ali and got it done.”

If they didn’t play?

“It was good to get back on the field because I feel like if we would have postponed it,” Barnes said, “I would have felt, like, very alone.”

No, it’s good to grieve together and that’s one of the beauties of team sports – a built-in support system. In this case, softening the shared pain.

Russo noted since the players wanted to go, his staff figured suiting up was the best thing. He didn’t have additional details of the death, just that it was a surprise.

“Everyone was devasted,” Russo said. “No one knows how to handle a situation like that. Obviously, we didn’t practice. We just thought it was best if we brought the team together, just talk to them. Everyone mourns in a different way.”

They had a team dinner Thursday night at the district’s Alternative Center for Education. Barnes said it was “a sad dinner.”

“We were all in such shock,” Barnes said. “We’re like what, he was just in practice Wednesday. Everything was good. He was not sick. No nothing. All heartbroken in school. We left school early. The coach, principal, everybody knows how much Ali meant to us. So we left school early. We went to the field. We just all sat in the locker room for about a cool 30 minutes, just sat in there crying. Thinking about him. Missing him. We all decided that we were going to play the game. Play one for him.”

Barnes was asked what was Muhammad’s personality like?

“Ali, he was very like to himself, but everybody loved him,” he said. “He would clean the locker room for no reason.”

Barnes chuckled at the memory and continued, “But we all loved him, man. He always used to help the team.”

The PA announcer was right, Muhammad did represent the best of high school sports. He wasn’t a star, just a hard-working teenager who loved being part of the squad and did whatever he could to lift up his friends. The 5-foot-8, 240-pounder was the second-team center and surely would have seen some varsity action. But the stats didn’t really matter.

“He always went 100 percent in practice to make me better,” Barnes said. “Ali was a hard worker. Even though he wasn’t starting, he came to practice every day. He showed 100 percent on and off the field. He was just a great person, man. It just sucks seeing him not being here with us enjoying this wonderful time right now.”

Those type of program kids are often the salt of a team. Russo said he represents “everything you want in a player. Do whatever we asked him to do.”

“Just did everything right all the time,” he said. “You know, it’s just very, very sad to lose him.”

During the game, Barnes excelled on defense and senior Kyle Hall scored four touchdowns, including a 68-yard fumble recovery just three minutes into the action. His teammates hollered on the sidelines and it was like they all exhaled together in, “We’re going to be all right tonight.”

That’s the important thing – they competed.

When it was over, shortly after the players chanted “Ali”, Russo choked up addressing the guys in the semicircle, his voice hitting a waterfall and declaring it’s more than a team, but a program and he’s proud of everyone and how the coaches will do anything for all – just like Ali gave everything he had.

“We talk about football time like it’s a game of life or death, but it’s not,” Russo said later. “We tell them, no matter what, win or lose, we just ask for the best effort, that’s it. We asked to give everything they had. Luckily, fortunately, we were able to come out on top tonight. It’s a great win, but if it hadn’t, we’d love them the same way, man. We realize it’s not life or death.”

Barnes added, “It was hard. It was hard. I’m not going to lie. Ali’s supposed to be on this field with us, but we still got the dubs for him. For him. For him.”

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Big Central Conference NJ football: Rahway football honors teammate