December 5, 2004: The Night of Nights for the football program at East Brunswick High School in East Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey.
EBHS had opened in 1958, and had begun playing varsity football in 1961. The Bears had won Conference Championships in 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1990 and 1994.
They had won the Central Jersey Group IV Championship in 1966, and again in 1972, under the old system of who had the best record in the section. Both times, E.B. went 7-1-1. Both times, the 1 loss came against neighboring South River, to whom the Township of East Brunswick had sent its high school students from 1891 to 1958.
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association instituted State Playoffs for the 1974 season. At first, only the top 4 teams in each section qualified. Starting in 1998, it became the top 8 teams. Had that been the case from 1974 to 1997, East Brunswick would have qualified in 1977, 1978, 1981, 1986, 1992 and 1996. But it wasn't.
East Brunswick first qualified in 1980, losing in the Semifinal. In 1984, when I arrived at EBHS as a sophomore, they reached the Final, going into it as undefeated Conference Champions. But an undefeated State Championship season vanished on a missed two-point conversion, losing 27-26 to J.P. Stevens of Edison Township. This was a shocking loss, the kind that used to happen to teams like the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago Cubs, the Philadelphia Phillies and Eagles, and the New York Rangers; and still happens to the New York Mets, the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians), the Buffalo Bills and the Philadelphia Flyers.
In 1985, the Bears reached the Final again. But, again, they lost to Stevens. They made the Playoffs again in 1987, but were wiped out in a frigid Semifinal against arch-rival Madison Central, the school now known as Old Bridge. The same thing happened in 1988, but in weather that was considerably less cold. They reached the Semifinal in 1990, losing to Trenton Central; the Semifinal again, losing to Piscataway; and the Quarterfinal in 1998, losing to Manalapan.
Then came a down period. Way down. They went 4-6 in 1999, 1-9 in 2000, and 0-10 in 2001. From November 25, 1999 to September 13, 2002, EB went an atrocious 2-21. They rebounded to 6-4 in 2002, but fell back to 4-6 in 2003. And, for Marcus Borden, who had been head coach since 1983, and had come so close in 1984, and nearly as close a few times since, there seemed to be no indication that 2004 would be any better.
We (yes, I have switched from "they" to "we," I admit it) opened the season with home wins over Perth Amboy and Edison. Then we lost away to Piscataway, and we figured a downward spiral into a typically weak season had begun.
But a funny thing happened on the way to mediocrity: We started winning again. We beat North Brunswick at home. Then we went to Sayreville, a tough trip since the early 1990s, and won. That was a good sign.
Before the next game, the Red Sox completed their improbable American League Championship Series comeback against the Yankees -- steroid-aided, as it turned out, but we didn't know that yet. We then beat Stevens at home. In the middle of the next week, the Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals, to win their 1st World Series in 86 years. If the Red Sox could overcome a long drought with several shocking defeats, why couldn't E.B. football?
We needed overtime to beat South Brunswick away, but not to then beat Woodbridge at home. We had qualified for the Playoffs. On November 13, at Jay Doyle Field -- named for the man who was our 1st athletic director, football coach and wrestling coach -- we beat Brick Township of Ocean County, 13-12. It was a difficult game, as we expected it would be, but we won it, advancing to the Semifinal for the 1st time in 10 years. On November 20, we won that, beating Hillsborough of Somerset County, 28-21 in overtime. We were now in the Final for the 1st time in 19 years.
Fortunately, the NJSIAA rejiggered its sectional boundaries for this season. Good thing, too, as it moved Piscataway from Central Jersey into North Jersey Section II, meaning that if we both made the Playoffs, we wouldn't have to face each other. Instead, we would have to face Jackson Memorial, of Ocean County. They hadn't lost a game in 2 years, and were going for back-to-back State Championships. But we were confident we could give them a game.
And then we went to Old Bridge for our annual Thanksgiving Day game against the arch-rivals, and laid an absolute egg. We lost 20-0, and we never even looked like scoring. What happened to the team that quarterback Matt Mariano had been leading to victory all year long? We hadn't beaten Old Bridge since 1994, and now, with our best team since then -- maybe our best team since 1984 -- we couldn't do it.
No matter: We had to get our confidence back up, because we still had a title to win. But it would be at Rutgers Stadium (now SHI Stadium), on the Busch Campus in Piscataway. It was the 1st time we'd ever played on artificial turf (most area high schools would soon get it, including us), and against the defending Champions. There were 12,000 people on hand, possibly the biggest crowd in EB history (and bigger than a lot of crowds were for Rutgers games at the old, 1938-92 version of Rutgers Stadium).
Somehow, Matt Mariano kept us in the game. It was tight. But we never trailed. We led 7-0, were tied 7-7, led 10-7, led 17-7, and it was 17-14 us in the final seconds. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. After all, this was East Brunswick football we were talking about. Something bad always happens, and we always lose the big ones.
With time for 1 more play, Jackson tried a field goal. I don't remember the exact distance, but it was around 40 yards. It was cold, but there wasn't much wind, and it was on turf. A good high school kicker could have made it.
And, having been through so much with E.B. -- momentary screwups, all-game-long brain cramps, bogus calls by officials, rotten weather, you name it -- I was sure that the field goal would be good, and that we would lose in overtime.
When the field goal by Jackson was tried, it seemed to hang in the air forever. It didn't, and the other shoe did. The attempt fell a few yards short, and, on December 5, 2004, East Brunswick was the State Champion. Well, the Central Jersey Group IV Champion, anyway.
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December 5, 2004 was a Sunday. These NFL games were played that day:
* The New York Giants lost to the Washington Redskins, 31-7 at FedEx Field in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.
* The New York Jets beat the Houston Texans, 29-7 at Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands.
* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers, 47-17 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Baltimore Ravens, 27-26 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, at what's now named TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville.
* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 27-0 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
* The Buffalo Bills beat the Miami Dolphins, 42-32 at what's now named Hard Rock Stadium in the Miami suburb of Miami Gardens, Florida.
* The Carolina Panthers beat the New Orleans Saints, 32-21 at the Superdome in New Orleans.
* The New England Patriots beat the Cleveland Browns, 42-15 at what's now named FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland.
* The Detroit Lions beat the Arizona Cardinals, 26-12 at Ford Field in Detroit.
* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Tennessee Titans, 51-24 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
* The Chicago Bears beat the Minnesota Vikings, 24-14 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago.
* The St. Louis Rams beat the San Francisco 49ers, 16-6 at what's now named the Dome at America's Center in St. Louis.
* The San Diego Chargers beat the Denver Broncos, 20-17 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.
* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Oakland Raiders, 35-27 at the Oakland Coliseum.
* And the next day, on Monday Night Football, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Seattle Seahawks, 43-39 at what's now named Lumen Field in Seattle.
There were no NHL games scheduled for that day, but 2 NBA games were played:
* The Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 121-99 at the Moda Center in Portland. Quentin Richardson scored 37 points for the Suns.
* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Boston Celtics, 119-105 at what's now named the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento.