It was always so close, yet so far. Located in the swamps of the Meadowlands, sitting less than a full mile from the town of Secaucus, Giants Stadium has stood majestically as a beacon, a guiding light of gridiron excellence since 1975.
But throughout that time, the only way anyone from Secaucus was gaining entrance to the Mecca of the Meadowlands was with a ticket.
Charlie Voorhees knows how elusive a trip to Giants Stadium has been. The head football coach at Secaucus High School was born in Secaucus and grew up in the shadows of Giants Stadium.
“Being a Secaucus kid, I saw a lot of the games there and watched a lot of teams play there,” Voorhees said. “I’ve seen that sign so many times. It’s like it’s been there forever. My Dad has had season tickets for the Giants since the 1950s. No question, we’re right there. You can throw a rock from Secaucus and hit it.”
Neither Mike Landi nor Betim Bujari was born in Secaucus. Bujari, the product of Albanian immigrants, was born in Brooklyn. Landi was born in Jersey City. But when they became old enough, they realized the importance of the edifice in the swamps.
“When I first moved here to Secaucus, I didn’t even know what it was,” Bujari said. “Eventually, later on, I learned what it was and what Giants Stadium meant. I can see it from my front porch. I just look to the left and there it is. All I need is a little canoe and take it across the [Hackensack] River.”
“I’m a big Jets fan, so I’ve been there a few times,” said Landi, who was last in Giants Stadium last Sunday when the Jets defeated Carolina. “It’s been right there, but we couldn’t get there. We definitely needed to be there.”
Especially since it was already determined that Giants Stadium was going to be torn down, replaced by a new unnamed facility currently known as the New Meadowlands Stadium.
So there would have been something so dramatically wrong if the team that resided so close to Giants Stadium never got a chance to play there before it came tumbling down.
This was the Patriots’ last chance. The Mecca will be razed come February, turned into a parking lot for the new joint.
Everything worked out perfectly for the Patriots. They rolled through the regular season without a loss, securing yet another BCSL National championship along the way, and earned the top seed in the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group I bracket. They easily defeated Weequahic in the first round, then battled neighboring rival Becton Regional to a 16-6 win, earning the right to make the long-awaited sojourn to Giants Stadium.
Now, the final piece of the Hollywood fairy tale story has been put into place. The Patriots were scheduled to face Cedar Grove for the sectional state championship Friday night. (For an update, check out the Reporter’s breaking news site, www.hudsonreporter.com, this weekend).
“It’s a unique opportunity to get there,” Voorhees said. “When things started falling into place, I knew we had a chance to finally get there. We also knew that the building was coming down, that this was it.”
“It’s really like a dream,” said Landi, a senior two-way lineman. “The place is getting knocked down and we finally made it this year after all these years.”
“This is as good as it gets,” said Bujari, also a senior two-way lineman who is headed to Rutgers on a scholarship next fall. “The town, the program has been dying to go for so long. It’s tough to make it. That’s for sure. I never expected one day that I would get to play at Giants Stadium for a state championship.”
For the 50 or so players, they finally won’t need a ticket to get into Giants Stadium this week. They earned their place.
The town has totally embraced the idea.
“It’s been like Dillon, Texas [the fictional location for the NBC series Friday Night Lights],” Voorhees said. “Everyone is so excited. The football team is lighting the town’s Christmas tree on Saturday. I’ve had people come up to me in the streets to offer good luck. People are wishing the players well. I’ve received calls, e-mails from all over the country. It’s really exciting.”
Now, all they have to do is win the game, which won’t be easy. Cedar Grove is traditionally one of the strongest Group I programs in the state and they steamrolled past their two playoff opponents by a combined score of 100-20.
“All we have to do is play as hard as we can,” Landi said. “We can definitely win. I don’t see them stopping us. And there would be something wrong with the story if we lost.”
“If we come out to play, there would be nothing stopping us,” Bujari said. “We’re not looking past this. We know we have a tough opponent.”
But no matter what, Secaucus will know one thing. Win or lose, they’ve reached the pinnacle. The wrecking ball can start the process in a few months. The Patriots walked through the front door of Mecca.
“After we beat Becton, I took a walk around the back of the school,” Voorhees said. “I took a look over. It was hard to see it, with all the Xanadu construction going on. But then I saw it and I started thinking right there and then that hey, we’re finally going. Then, on the way home, I drove home on Route 3 and stopped and looked again. It feels good. I feel good for the town. I feel good for our kids. I feel good for everyone who has ever played for Secaucus. There is really a sense of pride involved with this.”
And if the Patriots pull off the victory?
“Then it’s really a Hollywood story,” Voorhees said. “You couldn’t ask for more of that.”
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.