Montclair Football shines with their first night victory!
The Montclair High School Football team shined during Montclair’s history-making first night game at home on Woodman field. The State Champion Montclair Mounties took the field in dramatic fashion as they stormed through their new giant bulldog tunnel to the roar of the home crowd and the bands drum section.
Playing their first night game on the home field under the temporary lights presented the team with the opportunity to pull together and outshine Nutley, who was kept in the dark for most of the evening to a 41-20 victory at 9:39 p.m. The nearly sold-out event attracted a wide representative crowd from Montclair, drawing fans from all ages.
Athletic Director Jeff Gannon appeared comfortably in control with plenty of support staff, security, Montclair’s finest from the Police Department, the Montclair Volunteer ambulance core, buildings and grounds staff, the booster club and plenty of faculty were on hand. The event was well-planned and orchestrated; the police did not report any serious issues.
Parking and vehicle traffic was expertly coordinated by the Montclair Police Department and school security. Surrounding Streets remained clear and passable for emergency vehicles throughout the evening. Essex street was limited to one way traffic, exiting at Chestnut.
While the lights for the historic game were brought in at a minor expense there was some local opposition from the neighbors which ultimately amounted to little more than a whisper in comparison to the amount of greater good the event returned to the community as a whole. The complaints could be summed up and categorized as nothing more then the familiar and predictable NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard) complaints. The lights themselves, which cast sufficient light enough for Montclair to crush Nutley, barely cast enough light onto the neighboring properties to read the lawn signs that ironically read “no more night games please.”
At first light the next morning there was no sign of litter, damage or any hint that the Woodman field facility and surrounding residential properties had hosted several thousand athletes, fans and administrative staff the night before, which is a credit to Director Gannon and his facility staff.
While Montclair’s historic first night game returned a win to the Mounties and for a thousand plus students, it was a special opportunity to bundle up and come together as a community and support the home team.
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