October 2, 1986, 40 years ago: East Brunswick High School hosts its 1st night football game at Jay Doyle Field. Arch-rival Madison Central, now named Old Bridge, ripped up the script, and won, 22-0, foreshadowing the poundings they would give us the next 2 seasons. Pardon my use of a technical term, but... Phooey!
Putting lights up was a huge mistake. Not because we lost the premiere, but because of the long-term effect on attendance -- ours, and everyone else's.
The idea was that playing on Friday nights would give us bigger crowds, so that fans wouldn't to choose on Saturday afternoons between going to EB and nearby Rutgers University, and staying at home to watch games on television. They could go to a high school game on Friday night, and watch Rutgers live or another college game on TV on Saturday afternoon.
Instead, EB's crowds shrank from an average of 3,000 to about half that. Starting a game at 7:00 on a weeknight meant that people who worked until 5:00 might not even have been home by 7, and wouldn't have felt like getting cleaned up, dressed for a football game, and then going out and paying for one. To say nothing of either having a quick dinner, or eating mediocre hot dogs or pizza at our concession stand.
Putting up lights gave us greater scheduling flexibility, but it wrecked our attendance, and did little to help the atmosphere.
When I arrived at EBHS as a sophomore in 1984, only 2 schools had lights. Well, 2 had them, but 4 used them: Madison Central let Cedar Ridge, down Route 516, use their Vince Lombardi Field; and New Brunswick let crosstown St. Peter's use Memorial Stadium.
But night football was coming. In 1985, Sayreville put lights up, and we were their 1st opponents. We came from 13-0 down to beat them, 14-13. Both schools in Edison, Edison High and J.P. Stevens, put lights up. So did North Brunswick and South Brunswick. In 1986, along with us, Woodbridge, Piscataway, and St. Thomas Aquinas in Edison added them. By the end of the decade, only 2 schools didn't have them: South River and Spotswood.
I took the photo at the top of this page on September 7, 2012, a season opener. That's why we got a good crowd. But we lost the game, to South Brunswick, 34-0.
In 2025, Spotswood put lights up, leaving South River as the only one. At the time, they had temporary stands, because their wooden stands at Denny Stadium were condemned as unsafe, and demolished. As of the 2026 season, a plan to totally redo the football complex, complete with lights, remains in the planning stage.
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