‘It’s been like a movie’: Camden High’s Darian Chestnut and Alijah Clark reconnect at Syracuse

Before Darian Chestnut and Alijah Clark take the field for a Syracuse football game, they fall toward the back of the group while running out of the tunnel. Being among the last players on the field was a pregame ritual the two sophomore cornerbacks started at their alma mater, Camden High School.

“We always had it in our head that sometimes we just have to wait from the back so we can see everything that’s going on in front of us,” Clark said.

This is the first year they get to continue that high school tradition as college athletes. The two longtime friends, who started playing the game together at age 10, were reconnected this season after Clark transferred to Syracuse from Rutgers.

In high school, Chestnut and Clark chased a similar dream of making football their job. Now they’re taking that chase to a higher level with Syracuse.

“It’s been like a movie,” said Chestnut, who is also known as Duce. “We always say that. We’ll be walking and just be on the field together. We’ll say it out of nowhere, like, ‘It’s just really a movie, bro.’”

Chestnut made quite the name for himself last season, becoming one of the country’s top freshmen. The 6-foot, 198-pound defensive back made an immediate impact, with three interceptions, 11 passes defended, and eight pass breakups.

When Clark joined the Orange’s defensive backs, Chestnut saw it as an advantage given that they had played together since childhood. And it seems to have shown, with the two starting each game in No. 18 Syracuse’s 5-0 start. Next up is a home matchup Saturday with No. 15 North Carolina State.

“Just being on the field, I could just give him a look,” Chestnut said. “And we’ll be on the same page about a player or what we’re about to do. We just have each other’s back on the field. It’s been great chemistry and you can see it working.”

Chestnut played on a Pop Warner team in Pennsauken while Clark played for one in Camden. It wasn’t until middle school that the two kindled a friendship. Clark and Chestnut were invited to compete on a flag football team, NJ Flag, at the Pro Bowl tournament in Florida, and were assigned as roommates.

“We just were in the room playing [video] games together and listening to music together, making music together, like freestyling just playing around,” Chestnut said. “We just had a friendship from the beginning.”

The two grew up in East Camden, and throughout their childhood, they experienced the scourge of gun violence, losing family members or friends. Football helped them stay off the streets. Chestnut and Clark pushed each other each day to guarantee that.

In their freshman year at Camden High, being coached by Dwayne Savage, now Camden Catholic’s football coach, the two were already receiving interest from colleges. Although they switched position groups — Clark playing wide receiver and Chestnut at quarterback — Savage knew cornerback was their true calling.

“We always worked together no matter what it was,” Chestnut said. “Even before and after practice, Coach would tell us to stop going so hard during one-on-one because we were so competitive. That’s all we wanted to do was go against each other in practice.”

As they started to get noticed by more colleges, Clark, a four-star prospect, was named a top-250 recruit in the country and the No. 5 overall prospect in New Jersey. Chestnut, also a four-star recruit, ranked as one of the top 25 cornerbacks of the 2021 class.

The question of playing together in college was a conversation they had frequently. Clark, Chestnut, and former Camden teammate Corey Palmer, now a safety at Temple, had a group chat in which they talked about their goals.

When the three of them competed on a 7-on-7 team called Next Level Greats, they made a pact that they would all play for Rutgers.

» READ MORE: On the field and in the weight room, this is how Nick Singleton has quietly outworked ... everyone.

“We wanted to put on for our home state,” Chestnut said. “Stay home and bring Rutgers back up. They’re doing a good job now. ... But that was our goal, to try to bring Jersey and Rutgers back.”

It didn’t pan out that way. In fact Clark, Chestnut, and Palmer realized it was difficult for schools to offer several scholarships to players from the same program.

Clark, who had offers from Syracuse, Miami, and Michigan, announced his commitment to Rutgers first, then Chestnut decided on Syracuse because he felt it was the best option among offers from colleges including Mississippi and Michigan State. Palmer landed at Temple.

But after one season as a Scarlet Knight, the 6-foot-1,180-pound Clark sought a different opportunity to advance his football career. He decided to rejoin Chestnut at Syracuse.

“He kind of made it a surprise that he was coming,” Chestnut said. " I didn’t find out until he posted on Instagram like everybody else. He didn’t want to tell me, so that was how I found out.”

When he did see Clark’s post, Chestnut screamed with excitement in the locker room. His teammates around him were confused, but Chestnut knew Syracuse just landed “one of the best corners in the country, and they don’t even know it yet.”

Since the start of this season, Chestnut feels more comfortable to be himself now that he has his old teammate on the field. Likewise, Clark has made an easy transition into Syracuse’s program, knowing Chestnut has his back during every drive.

“It’s just a brotherhood,” Chestnut said. “We call each other’s mom ‘Mom,’ because that’s our second mom, but we’re really brothers, you know. Blood couldn’t make us any closer.

“Anytime you see Alijah, you’ll see me. Anytime you see me, you’ll see Alijah. It’s just always been like that. You can just tell it’s a different type of brother.”