November 24, 1994: It is Thanksgiving Day, and, as is traditional in New Jersey, high school football teams tend to play their arch-rivals, teams from within the same town or, if they're the only team in town, a team from the town next door.
From its incorporation on March 2, 1869 until November 5, 1975, the southeasternmost town in Middlesex County was known as the Township of Madison -- or, more often, "Madison Township" -- in honor of the 4th President of the United States, James Madison. One of the adjoining towns is named for the 5th President, James Monroe. Tired of being confused with the Borough of Madison in Morris County, New Jersey, Madison changed its name to the Township of Old Bridge.
That name taken from an adjoining section of a town next-door -- my hometown of East Brunswick, incorporated on February 28, 1960. Even the Old Bridge post which sponsors the Old Bridge team in the County's American Legion baseball league, is in that part of East Brunswick. The former Madison could have picked a name from their own town, like Browntown, Sayre Woods or Cheesequake, but didn't.
The name change took effect immediately, but wasn't universal. It took a few years to change the name on the water tower on New Jersey Route 18, which goes through the town. And just over the highway's bridge over the South River, there was still a sign saying "MADISON JAYCEES WELCOME YOU" for about 30 years.
With their high school-age students previously going to Matawan High School, in a town next-door but over in Monmouth County, Madison Township Township High School opened in 1963, pretty much in the center of town, near the intersection of U.S. Route 9 and County Route 516, with the colors navy blue and sky blue, and the mascot of the Spartans.
The town continued to grow, and a 2nd school opened, 2 miles east on Route 516, named Cedar Ridge High School, with the colors green and gold, and the mascot of the Cougars. On the same campus was a middle school named for the recently deceased poet Carl Sandburg. They also have a middle school named for Dr. Jonas Salk, who was still alive at the time. So were some of America's astronauts, who had elementary schools in the town named for them.
But while Cedar Ridge got their own gymnasium and baseball field, they never got their own football stadium, and had to "groundshare" with the established school, playing their "home games" at the home of their arch-rivals, which was very uncomfortable. In 1970, after the death of legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi, the complex was named Vince Lombardi Field, even though he had no connection to the town. (He had married a woman from nearby Red Bank, and had coached at the now-defunct. St. Cecilia's High School in Kearny.)
Cedar Ridge had a bad football history: In 25 years, 1969 to 1993, they only beat Madison twice, in their undefeated season of 1973 and 1975; and to East Brunswick 3 times, in those 2 seasons and 1981. , they lost all 9 games, including a 64-0 defeat to East Brunswick, which remains the biggest win by points in my Alma Mater's history. Their next 2 seasons were also bad. Madison fans nicknamed the newer school "the Gulch Down the Road." In 1972, they got better. But, for the 4th time in 4 tries, Madison won the Thanksgiving Day game between the teams. Previously, in 1965, '66, '67 and '68, Madison had played next-door Sayreville on Thanksgiving.
With the change of the town's name in 1975, the Board of Education changed the name of Madison Township High School to... Madison Central High School. This made no sense whatsoever. Their "MT" helmet logo was changed to an "MC." Most people continued to call them "Madison" for short. That Autumn, Cedar Ridge beat Madison again.
But 1973 and 1975 would be the only times Cedar Ridge ever beat Madison. Those 2 seasons, and 1981, were the only times Cedar Ridge ever beat East Brunswick. Usually, EB clobbered them, including the last 6 times after the '81 defeat. The Greater Middlesex Conference was formed in 1985, with divisions according to enrollment size: Red for large schools, White for the middle, and Blue for small. After the 1987-88 schoolyear, Cedar Ridge was dropped to the White Division, and EB never played them in football again.
Both Old Bridge schools saw their enrollment drop, and in 1993, the decision was made to reconsolidate them. The combined school was named Old Bridge High School. A poll was taken among the students who would be moving on to it, to choose new colors, which turned out to be black and purple, a combination no nearby school had; and a new mascot, which became the Knights, possibly a tribute to nearby Rutgers University, and also a name not given to a nearby school. (The next-closest Knights were Wall Township, 5 towns to the south in Monmouth County.)
When the 1994-95 schoolyear opened, Madison Central became the OBHS West Campus, holding Grades 9 and 10; while Cedar Ridge became the OBHS East Campus, holding Grades 11 and 12. In 2004, it was reorganized again: The former Cedar Ridge is now Old Bridge High School, holding Grades 10, 11 and 12; the former Sandburg is now the Grade Nine Center; and the former Madison Central is now Carl Sandburg Middle School.
East Brunswick's 1st athletic director, 1st football coach, and 1st wrestling coach was Jay Doyle. He was from Long Island, where there was no tradition of playing high school football on Thanksgiving. As a result, EB never did so until 1978, with 1 exception: 1963, when their game the preceding Saturday was postponed, due to the assassination of President Kennedy the day before. On November 28, 1963, EB beat Sayreville. Doyle died in 1972, only 41 years old, and his successor as athletic director, Charles M. King, embraced the Thanksgiving game idea.
By 1976, with the Bicentennial Conference having taken the smaller schools (the ones that would eventually be the GMC's Blue Division and most of its White) out of the Middlesex County Athletic Conference (the GMC Red and some of the White), local Thanksgiving Day rivalries were set in stone. Perth Amboy and Carteret had played each other every T-Day since 1927. Highland Park played Carteret. Crossing County Lines, Piscataway played Franklin, South Plainfield played North Plainfield, and Dunellen played Green Brook.
Edison and Woodbridge used to play each other on the day, but new schools changed things. A 2nd school in Edison, J.P. Stevens, became Edison High's rival; while John F. Kennedy Memorial High School became Woodbridge's Turkey Day rival. South River used to play New Brunswick, but South River now played Sayreville, and New Brunswick played crosstown St. Peter's. North Brunswick played South Brunswick.
This left East Brunswick and the 3rd Woodbridge school, Colonia, without opponents, so, in 1978, they began playing each other on Thanksgiving. This didn't last, and further enrollment changes left South River without an opponent, so EB began playing Sayreville. But the reconsolidation in Old Bridge made them vs. EB a clear rivalry.
From 1963 to 1974, EB went 9-1-2 against Madison Township. From 1975 to 1993, when the opposing school was named Madison Central, they led, 13-8, including Conference title deciders in 1980 (them) and 1987 (us); their ruining EB's 1st-ever home night game in 1986; a Number 1 vs. Number 2 game in 1988 where they beat us in the worst blowout in our history, 55-3; Playoff defeats to them in 1987 and 1988; and our ending their 24-game winning streak in 1989. Up until 1987, most of these games were early in the season, sometimes even the opening game.
The 1st East Brunswick vs. Old Bridge game was played on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1994, at Lombardi Field, on what had been the Madison Central campus in Old Bridge. It was a little chilly, but clear, with little wind, and no snow on the ground. Old Bridge wore their home uniforms of purple helmets and jerseys with white pants; EB, our regular road uniforms of white helmets and jerseys with green pants.
EB had made the Playoffs that season, but lost the Central Jersey Group IV Semifinal to the one team that beat us in the regular season, Piscataway. A few weeks later, Piscataway was found to have used an ineligible player. It was a bureaucratic mixup, not an intentional cheat, but it forced them to forfeit the GMC Red Division title to EB, and would have forced them to forfeit the CJIV title, had they not lost the Final to Monmouth County school Marlboro.
Led by Greg Kohlheim, a running quarterback who became the 1st EB player ever to rush for at least 1,000 yards in a season, the Bears controlled the game most of the way. The Knights fought hard, but, at least this time, they were not our equals. EB won, 33-18. Having gone through some very painful defeats to that school, including at that field, it was one of my favorite days as an EBHS alumnus.
The Battle of Route 18 Trophy,
even though neither school is on Route 18.
Old Bridge's field can be seen off Route 9, though.
It would turn out to be rare. Since then, we've only beaten them in 2007 and 2010, with only a few of the losses being close. The last Thanksgiving Day game for either school was on November 22, 2018, a 10-0 win for Old Bridge at Lombardi Field.
The rivalry wasn't stopped, it was just rescheduled. The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) expanded the State Playoffs to include Thanksgiving Weekend, forcing schools to move their major rivalries to earlier in the season. In some cases, and for a while East Brunswick vs. Old Bridge was one of them, it was the opening game, which felt strange: Instead of building up all season long to the big game, which could decide whether your season is a success or a failure, it could be decided at the very beginning, with the rest of the season as an anticlimax, one way or the other.
But, the NJSIAA wanted more money. And what they want, they get.
Anyway, on Thanksgiving Day, the count is Old Bridge 22, East Brunswick 3. This gives Madison Central/Old Bridge a lifetime T-Day record of 47-7. East Brunswick's Thanksgiving record is 8-25.
Overall, through the 2022 season, as "Old Bridge," the enemy lead East Brunswick 26-3; counting their time as "Madison Township" and "Madison Central," they lead us 35-25-2.
UPDATE: Through 2025, it's 38-25-2.
*
November 24, 1994 was, as I said, Thanksgiving Day, and therefore a Thursday. As usual, there were 2 games in the NFL: The Detroit Lions beat the Buffalo Bills, 35-21 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac,
Michigan. And the Dallas Cowboys beat the Green Bay Packers, 42-31 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.
There were 2 games in college football. West Virginia upset Number 22 Syracuse, 13-0 at the Carrier Dome (now the JMA Wireless Dome) in
Syracuse, New York. And Texas beat Baylor, 63-35 at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas. Playing on T-Day was familiar to Texas fans, although they were more used to playing Texas A&M. They had already lost to A&M on November 5.
The Major League Baseball Players Association was on strike, and the sport was out of season, anyway. Due to the now-traditional dominance of football, the NBA and the NHL usually don't play on T-Day anymore. It was just as well: The NHL team owners had locked out the players, so two of the "Big Four" North American sports couldn't have played even if they were scheduled.
The NBA played 1 game on this day: The Indiana Pacers beat the Golden State Warriors, 123-96 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
No comments:
Post a Comment