In the early morning hours of Dec. 1, 1990, players from the Montclair Mounties and Randolph Rams were battling nerves as they prepared for the most anticipated state championship game in New Jersey history.
Knees are bouncing on the Randolph bus ride to Montclair. While the Mounties players are walking the streets, shoulder to shoulder, on their way to Ray’s Luncheonette for the biggest free breakfast they’ve ever seen.
And when both teams get to Woodman Field, it’s a scene unlike anything they’d ever experienced. People are everywhere. Even standing in trees and on rooftops, just to catch a glimpse of the field. National media outlets are there to cover the game. Even John Amos is on the sidelines — the star of “Good Times.”
All of this is explored in the fourth episode of NJ.com’s new podcast, “Lights Out: The loss of a lifetime.” You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. The eight-part series debuts a new episode every Tuesday.
This week’s episode takes listeners inside what The Star-Ledger dubbed, “The greatest high school football game ever played,” and what came to be known as “The Miracle at Montclair.”
The episode is a blow-by-blow recounting of that incredible game, the ins and outs of the final, controversial seconds and the fraught, chaotic aftermath that led to fights in the streets and devastation that’s lasted a lifetime.
Lights Out is a production of Campside Media and Entertainment One, in association with NJ Advance Media and XTR. The podcast is based off NJ Advance Media’s 2019 award-winning feature story, “The day that changed everything.”
You can listen, rate and subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes will be released every Tuesday.
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Matthew Stanmyre may be reached at mstanmyre@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattStanmyre. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
