November 22, 1973: The Old Bridge Thanksgiving Classic

A recent photo of Vince Lombardi Field

in Old Bridge, New Jersey

November 22, 1973: The most famous football game in the history of the Township of Old Bridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey is played.

Well, sort of: From its incorporation on March 2, 1869 until November 5, 1975, the town 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, a name taken from an adjoining section of a town next-door -- my hometown of East Brunswick. Jeez, why couldn't you pick a name from your own town, like Browntown or Sayre Woods?

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 start to their football history: In 1969, 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.

In 1973, Cedar Ridge football took off. They even beat East Brunswick for the 1st time, 21-0. They went into the Thanksgiving game undefeated, at 8-0. Madison were just 2-6. It looked like the "little brother" school was ready to finish them off, and win the Championships of the Middlesex County Athletic Conference and the Central Jersey Group IV section. (That would be the last season that having the best record in the section and the enrollment-defined group would settle the title. The next season, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, the NJSIAA, instituted a Playoff system.)

But Madison refused to let their dominance go. The Spartans fought the Cougars tooth and nail, all game long. It looked like it would be an incredible upset -- unless, of course, the belief that Cedar Ridge simply couldn't beat Madison Township was too strong.

As the clock ticked down, the Spartans led, 15-14, but Cedar Ridge had one last drive in them. With 57 seconds to go, Kyle Raymond attempted a field goal from 33 yards out. It was good, and the Spartans could not get back into field goal range on their last possession. Cedar Ridge won, 17-15, and completed their undefeated championship season.

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 those would be the only 2 times in 25 tries that Cedar Ridge won. Whether it was declining enrollment, or the fact that they never had a home-field advantage, the Cougars never had a big football moment after 1975. They never made the Playoffs. And neighboring schools like East Brunswick, Sayreville and, every 4th Thursday in November, Madison routinely clobbered them. They occasionally had good baseball, soccer and wrestling teams, but 1973 (and maybe '75) would be it for them in football. But the 1973 Cedar Ridge-Madison Central game is still regarded as one of the greatest games in the history of Middlesex County football.

Both 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.

Notable graduates of Cedar Ridge include lawyer Doug Emhoff '82, Vice President Kamala Harris' husband; writer Junot Díaz '86; singer-actress Colleen Fitzpatrick '88, a.k.a. Vitamin C; and Shannon Sohn '92, Emmy-winning helicopter traffic reporter for WABC-Channel 7.

Notable graduates of Madison Township/Madison Central include Mark Schlissel '75, fired as President of the University of Michigan in 2022 on what would once have been quaintly called a morals charge; Jordan Zimmerman '75, a former co-owner of the NHL's Florida Panthers; Fabian Nicieza '79, co-creator of the comic book superhero Deadpool; actor Brian O'Halloran '87, who played Dante in the film Clerks; actor Ken Leung '88, known for his role on the TV series Lost; 

And notable graduates of Old Bridge High School after 1994 include Adam Chazen '04, special effects producer for the TV show Game of Thrones. 

*

November 22, 1973 was, as I said, Thanksgiving Day, and therefore a Thursday. Baseball was out of season. There were 5 college football games played:

* Number 2 Alabama beat Number 7 Louisiana State University (LSU), 21-7 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

* Number 5 Notre Dame beat the Air Force Academy, 48-15 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. The Fighting Irish were on a collision course with 'Bama, and beat them in the Sugar Bowl to decide the National Championship.

* Number 11 Texas beat their arch-rivals, Texas A&M, 42-13 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas.

* Ohio University -- not to be confused with Ohio State -- beat Marshall University, 35-21 at Fairfield Stadium in Huntington, West Virginia.

* And the University of Southern Mississippi beat Utah State, 32-8 at Faulkner Field (now Renasant Stadium) in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

There were 2 games in the NFL. The Washington Redskins beat the Detroit Lions, 20-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. And the Miami Dolphins beat the Dallas Cowboys, 14-7 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

With the growing dominance of football, the NBA and the NHL usually doesn't schedule games for Thanksgiving Day anymore. But, on this T-Day, there were 4 NBA games:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, 107-91 at the Milwaukee Exposition and Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA (now the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena).

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Atlanta Hawks, 101-99 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Houston Rockets, 104-96 at the Hofheinz Pavilion (now the Fertitta Center) in Houston.

* And, in what could be considered the NBA equivalent of an amateur football rivalry, the Portland Trail Blazers beat their arch-rivals, the Seattle SuperSonics, 131-125 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. Geoff Petrie scored 43 points.

There were 2 games in the American Basketball Association. The Virginia Squires beat the Memphis Tams, 136-111 at the Hampton Coliseum, outside Norfolk in Hampton, Virginia. And the San Antonio Spurs beat the Utah Stars, 92-84 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah.

There were 5 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 7-6 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The New York Islanders beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-2 at the Boston Garden. This turned out to be a preview of the Stanley Cup Finals, but the Flyers won that.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* And the St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota North Stars, 2-1 at the St. Louis Arena.

And there were 4 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The Toronto Toros beat the Quebec Nordiques, 4-2 at the Colisée de Québec.

* The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the New England Whalers, 7-5 at the St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Chicago Cougars beat the Los Angeles Sharks, 4-3 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

* And the Vancouver Blazers beat the Edmonton Oilers, 7-1 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

October 23, 1981: The East Brunswick-Cedar Ridge Rain Bowl

Lombardi Field, many years later,

and in considerably better weather

October 23, 1981: A high school football game is played at Vince Lombardi Field, on the campus of Madison Central High School in Old Bridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey. At the time, is one of only two schools in the County with lights, enabling them to play on Friday or Saturday nights, when most schools are still playing on Saturday afternoons, while college games are going on.

The other school was New Brunswick, with their Memorial Stadium. Oddly, each school permitted the other high school in town, which ended up never building its own stadium, to "groundshare" with them: New Brunswick provided their stadium to St. Peter's, and Madison Central provided theirs to Old Bridge -- making for an every-other-year oddity on Thanksgiving Day, when New Brunswick and Madison would, officially, be the visiting team on their home field.

On this night, Cedar Ridge was hosting East Brunswick, whose town adjoins Old Bridge. The year before, Madison had dealt EB its only regular-season loss, deciding the Middlesex County Athletic Conference title in Madison's favor, before they reached the Central Jersey Group III Final, losing to Hillsborough of Somerset County.

EB ended up making the Central Jersey Group IV Playoffs for the 1st time since the system was instituted in 1974, losing the Semifinal to Raritan High School, of Hazlet in Monmouth County, who then lost the Final to Woodbridge, a school EB had beaten in the regular season. 

EB, eventually to become my Alma Mater, were 3-1, having beaten Sayreville, lost to J.P. Stevens of Edison, beaten John F. Kennedy High School of Woodbridge, and beaten Perth Amboy.

To qualify as 1 of the 4 seeds, a team needed to win at least 6 of its 1st 8 games, or win 5 and tie 2. In other words, go 6-2 or 5-1-2. The next 3 games were away to both Old Bridge schools, with a home game against Edison in between. Edison, their crosstown rivals Stevens, and Madison were all strong teams, as was then usual. So the game against Cedar Ridge, usually not a good team, was considered vital for EB. Win that one, and then split between Edison and Madison, and they should make the Playoffs.

Except it rained on that Friday. And rained, and rained, and rained. Under more recent values, the game probably would have been postponed to the next day. But it wasn't, and the game went forward. Despite  having the previous season's Home News Middlesex County Player of the Year, Len Bellezza, in both their offensive and defensive backfields, EB couldn't gain ground on Old Bridge's muddy patch, and Cedar Ridge won, 12-6. It was the only time all season that EB were held to under 13 points.

The next week, on the afternoon of Halloween, Edison came into Jay Doyle Field and beat East Brunswick, 28-22, in what I've heard was a thriller. Just 6 days later, the Bears went back to Lombardi Field, and pulled the upset over Madison, 19-17. The week after that, EB beat Woodbridge at home, 22-8.

I was then in the 7th grade at Hammarskjold Middle School, and I didn't see any of these games. I wish now that I had. (Highlights, but not full games, are available on YouTube.) But I'm glad I didn't sit through the rain for the Cedar Ridge loss. It was a Friday night, so I was probably sitting at home, watching the Yankees play the Dodgers in the World Series on ABC. Certainly, it would have been a better choice than watching The Dukes of Hazzard on CBS, although, being 11 going on 12, that show was kind of aimed at boys in my age group.

On Thanksgiving Day, EB beat another Woodbridge team, Colonia, 29-21. Madison beat Cedar Ridge, while Edison beat Stevens, Woodbridge beat Kennedy, Perth Amboy beat Carteret, and Sayreville played South River to a tie. When the Turkey Day dust had settled, Woodbridge had won the MCAC Championship.

EB finished 6-3, a decent record, but did not win the Conference, and did not qualify for the Playoffs. In contrast, for the 2nd year in a row, EB had beaten Woodbridge, and they ended up winning a championship, anyway. And they say baseball is a funny game.

Had EB beaten Cedar Ridge, had they gotten 1 more touchdown and made the extra point, and won, 13-12, they would have qualified for the Playoffs. But they didn't.

That "Rain Bowl" stuck in the minds of the returning players. Here's what happened between the football teams of EB and Cedar Ridge thereafter: 1982, 28-0; 1983, 21-0; 1984, 50-14; 1985, 31-6; 1986, 28-0; and 1987, 42-14.

The next season, due to declining enrollment, Cedar Ridge dropped down to the GMC White Division, and we never played them in football again. In 1994, the two Old Bridge schools were reconsolidated into a combined Old Bridge High School.

*

October 23, 1981 was a Friday. Game 3 of the World Series was played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The New York Yankees had won the 1st 2 games, but the Los Angeles Dodgers tagged Dave Righetti for 3 runs in the 1st inning, and Dodger sensation Fernando Valenzuela hung on for a 5-4 win. It was the 1st time 2 pitchers who would go on to win their Leagues' Rookie of the Year awards started against each other in a World Series game. Ron Cey hit a home run for the Dodgers, while Bob Watson and Rick Cerone hit them for the Yankees. The Dodgers went on to win in 6 games.

Football was in midweek. The NBA season started 7 days later. There were 5 games in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the Washington Capitals, 4-2 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat their arch-rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Chicago Black Hawks and the Winnipeg Jets played to a tie, 5-5 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 8-3 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

* And the Hartford Whalers and the Vancouver Canucks played to a tie, 2-2 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.