East Rutherford High School Explained

East Rutherford High School was a public high school that operated as part of the East Rutherford School District in East Rutherford, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.

History

The district's initial high school program began in 1896, with the first graduate completing their program two years later. The school had served students from Carlstadt on a tuition basis until its closure and the opening of the joint regional high school. Students from Wallington had attended the school as part of a sending/receiving relationship until the opening of Wallington High School in 1951.[1]

The school building was partially destroyed in an October 1966 fire that destroyed half of the space used by the high school.[2] [3]

The school closed at the end of the 1970–71 school year, was succeeded by Henry P. Becton Regional High School, which was built to serve students from both East Rutherford and Carlstadt.[4]

Athletics

The boys cross country running team won the Group B state championship in 1929 and 1930.[5]

In 1933, the girls' basketball team won its 100th consecutive game, continuing a streak that started with the final game of the 1927 season.[6]

The boys' basketball team, coached by Dick Vitale, won the Group I state championship in 1970 (defeating Burlington Township High School in the tournament final) and 1971 (vs. Gloucester City High School).[7] Les Cason set a tournament record with 45 points to lead the 1970 team to a 67–66 win against Burlington Township in the Group I championship game at a game played in Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Cason broke the record of 40 points that had been held by Brian Taylor of Perth Amboy High School.[8] The 1971 team, which also starred Cason, finished the season with a record of 28–0 after winning the program's second consecutive Group I state title with a 53–52 defeat of Gloucester City in the playoff finals.[9] Cason was recruited by over 300 colleges, but a combination of academic problems and other issues rendered him ineffective at the collegiate level; eventually he became addicted to drugs and died at age 43.[10]

Notable alumni

Notes and References

  1. Lanza, Monica. "East Rutherford H.S.; This was theirs alone", Herald News, July 6, 1971. Accessed March 23, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The Generations of Youth began their sojourn in 1896. The first graduate, in 1898, was Margaret W. Moffat who received her diploma from principal-superintendent Homer Wilcox. By 1911, the high school had moved to the brand new Madison Square School, which later became a four-year high school.... Sharing has been an integral part of school life for every East Rutherford student since 1876 when Wallington began sending students to East Rutherford schools. In 1951, after 75 years of shared educational experiences, Wallington officials dedicated a high school building of their own. Carlstadt, however, continued to send its students to East Rutherford for secondary education, and the two boroughs have now joined resources to form the regional facility."
  2. Staff. "Fire Destroys Jersey School", The New York Times, October 9, 1966. Accessed January 9, 2018. "A fire destroyed East Rutherford High School tonight."
  3. Lanza, Monica P. "Becton High is a reality at last", Herald News, November 15, 1971. Accessed March 2, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Mrs. Irene Mercoun, president of the Carlstadt-East Rutherford Board of Education, formed in 1968, traced the chain of events that culminated in the reality of a regional school for the two towns. 'It all started with a nightmare for East Rutherford High School and the Municipal Square School,' Mrs. Mercoun said. The nightmare was a fire that destroyed the Municipal Square School which was being used by high school students from Carlstadt and East Rutherford. The fire cost the system half of its available facilities for high school students."
  4. Rowe, John. "East Rutherford Cage Era Ends Tonight", Herald News, March 18, 1971. Accessed March 2, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "The title game will be the final basketball game for an East Rutherford team and a Wildcats' squad led by Les Cason and coached by Dick Vitale. Next year they will be a Becton-Dickinson Regional High School and a basketball team which will be without the services of Cason and Vitale."
  5. https://www.njsiaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2021-12/21-xc-group-team-champions_0.pdf NJSIAA Boys Cross Country Group State Group Champions
  6. Staff. "East Rutherford Girl Sextet Scores 100th Victory in Row", The New York Times, February 16, 1933. Accessed January 9, 2018. "Bent on equaling the record of the Passaic 'wonder' basketball team of a few years ago – which won 159 consecutive games – the girls' court team of East Rutherford High School today defeated West New York, 24 to 13, for its 100th straight contest. The East Rutherford girls began their bid for fame in the last game of 1927."
  7. https://www.njsiaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2020-11/2020-basketball-history_0.pdf NJSIAA Boys Basketball Championship History
  8. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64064488/east-rutherford-beats-burlington/ Cason's 45 Snaps Tourney Record"
  9. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/528710888/ "Beat Them at Own Game, Says Vitale"
  10. https://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/19/sports/les-cason-43-high-school-basketball-star.html "Les Cason, 43, High School Basketball Star"
  11. http://www.digifind-it.com/lyndhurst/DATA/newspapers/1984/1984-12-13.pdf#page=2 "Keeping In Touch"
  12. http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/archives/collections/franklin/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=134 Ernest Cuneo Papers, 1926–1988
  13. Curley, Bob. "The Steve Hamas Story; Inferiority Complex Helped Wellington Athlete's Career; Dad His Guiding Light", Herald News, April 10, 1954. Accessed December 23, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "When he was a freshman at Passaic High School in 1922, Steve felt far from being a standout athlete.... 'When my dad moved to Wallington I transferred to East Rutherford High School.'"
  14. Phalon, Richard. "Two Ex-Classmates in Heated Ninth District Race", The New York Times, October 28, 1974. Accessed January 9, 2018. "As fellow graduates, of the old East Rutherford High School, Class of 1940, Representative Henry Helstoski, a Democrat, and Harold A. Pareti, his Republican opponent in the Ninth Congressional District, have a certain wry respect for each other's talents."
  15. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100450561/candidates-selected/ "Plosia, Hollenbeck Picked as Candidates; East Rutherford GOP-Independent Membership Names 2 Unanimously"
  16. https://books.google.com/books?id=D36HAAAAMAAJ&q=%22east%20rutherford%20high%20school%22 Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, 1985
  17. https://books.google.com/books?id=eDfwQUp48R8C&q=%22gus+rys%22 Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, Volume 197
  18. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/525489008/ "Walt Szot With Grid Cards"
  19. https://www.profootballarchives.com/players/szot00100.html Walt Szot
  20. Katzban, Nicholas. "Vito Trause, who left school in Bergen County to fight in WWII, dies at 94", The Record, November 3, 2019. Accessed October 11, 2021. "Vito 'Pal' Trause was raised in Carlstadt and attended Becton when it was known as East Rutherford High School."
  21. [Malcolm Moran|Moran, Malcolm]
  22. https://espnpressroom.com/us/bios/vitale_dick/ Dick Vitale

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