What if the Montclair Mounties had won the 1990 state championship, and not been on the wrong end of the worst loss in New Jersey high school history? What would have happened to their lives, and would they be any different?
Those big, existential questions and more are explored in episode seven 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. And you can now download and binge the first seven episodes.
The seventh episode wraps up our narrative about the “Miracle in Montclair,” which became known as the “Greatest High School Football Game Ever Played.” We hear from players on both sides — Montclair and Randolph — and how they navigated the challenges of adulthood and dealt with the lingering fallout from the big game.
The Montclair players also grapple with the melancholy of wondering how their lives may have turned out different had they won that game against the Rams.
“What if?” Gary Sistrunk, one of the Montclair players, asked during the episode. “I think about that a lot. What if we had won?”
The episode also features interviews with people in and around the Montclair football program today. They discuss how the town and team have changed — and stayed the same — since 1990.
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.
