Brick's 1974 State Football Champions To Be Honored At Game
BRICK, NJ — It’s been 50 years since the Brick Township High School football team captured its first on-the-field state championship.
On Friday night, that team — the 1974 Brick Township High School football state champions —will be honored Friday night at halftime of the crosstown football game between Brick Township and Brick Memorial high schools.
The “Brick vs. Brick” game is set for a 6 p.m. kickoff at Keller Memorial Field behind Brick Township High School on Chambers Bridge Road.
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The 1974 game was the first year the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association awarded championships on the field. Before 1974, the NJSIAA awarded sectional championships.
The Green Dragons were undefeated heading into the South Jersey Group 4 title game against Camden on Dec. 6, 1974, a game played indoors at Convention Hall on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, and finished the season 10-0. The game was played on a temporary grass field, according to an NJ.com report.
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Brick beat Camden, 21-20, before 5,200 fans, the New York Times reported at the time. Paul Durkin threw a touchdown pass to Dale Koch and Tony Aulisi kicked the point after to give Brick a 21-14 lead, capitalizing after Kerry Matson intercepted a Camden pass in the fourth quarter.
Camden responded with a touchdown drive finished by Frank Green’s 3‐yard run, but the Green Dragons stopped Walt Nock’s run for a 2‐point conversion, with Karl Rex and Frank McKevitt tackling Nock.
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That season, running back Don Gethard rushed for 1,135 yards on the season, scoring 16 TDs, running behind an offensive line led by guard Donovan Brown, according to the Asbury Park Press. The Dragons’ offense averaged 297 yards per game. End Jeff Conner finished with a team-high six touchdown catches.
It was the fifth perfect season in Brick’s history to that point, with the Dragons going 9-0 in 1960, 1961, 1966 and 1972. The Dragons were 8-0-1 in 1962 and 1971.
The 1974 season also capped a run of four years where Brick suffered just one loss, to Montclair, 38-20, in 1973. Brick avenged that loss in the 1974 season as legendary coach Warren Wolf’s record grew to 126-23-4.
Here is the game-by-game record for Brick en route to winning the South Jersey Group 4 championship:
1974 (10-0)
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