With about two minutes left, Hollywood was calling. The movie script was almost complete.
A story was unfolding, and what a story it was.
Cinderella Madison was on the verge of toppling mighty Shabazz.
Yes, the Dodgers were at it again.
Two weeks ago, they went on the road and stunned undefeated and No. 2 seed Bernards. Last week, they went to Bergen Country and dominated sixth-seeded Becton.
But the topper was unfolding before our very eyes: The Dodgers were about two minutes away from a win in Newark at ultra-talented Shabazz, which draws its students from all over Newark.
A highly unlikely sectional championship was coming into focus for outgoing coach Chris Kubik (127-69 record in 19 years, 5 sectional titles), who was in the midst of his greatest coaching job and was retiring at season’s end.
But all it took was one play for the script to be ruined.
Shabazz, seemingly dead, rose up and threw a long touchdown pass and went on to secure a 26-16 victory over Madison.
No out-of-nowhere state championship story. No incredible state championship run in Kubik’s final year.
But what a tremendous thrill Madison gave us all.
“You look at the little picture today and the big picture the rest of your life,” Kubik said. “I told them to be proud of what they accomplished. That’s the big picture.”
In the early stages of 2025, Madison didn’t exactly have the look of a team that would ruin the North 2, Group II bracket.
On Oct. 3, Mountain Lakes rushed for a single-game school record of 503 yards on the way to a resounding 49-21 victory over Madison.
The following week, the Dodgers seemed headed for defeat when they trailed Sparta in the fourth quarter but rallied for a wild 48-42 home victory that seemed to ignite Kubik’s team.
The team won two more games to get into the state playoffs and played the role of Road Warriors the rest of the way, culminating with the heartbreaking loss against a Shabazz team that was vastly superior in terms of talent.
“I’m proud of them and I love ‘em,” Kubik said. “There was nothing else to say. They know how they played. They were disappointed, crushed. I felt worse for the seniors. That was it for them, their last shot. They have given us so much the last few years. To watch them be upset was tough.
“It was my last game, but I’m retiring by choice. They don’t have a choice. I felt for them.”
And so ends the best run of football Madison has had since the Ted Monica days. Kubik replaced Mike Judge in 2007 and went 4-6. By 2009, the program seemed to turn the corner and finished 8-3.
The next three years, the team went undefeated and won North 2, Group II. In 2015-16, Madison won two more sectional crowns under Kubik.
Not one of those championships outweighs the other to Kubik, who has a special fondness for all five teams. Then again, like a proud dad, he had a love for all of his clubs.
“Those championship teams were all great,” he said. “So were some of the other teams throughout the years. The thing about football, you try and win the championship but they are all fun because the kids were fun. You think 2-7 was a rough year but one year we had five losses by 6-7 points. So the kids were always battling. I have a lot of great memories. It’s nice getting messages from kids. It was all fun.”
Right from the start, when he entered the Madison football office, Kubik was organized and had a plan. He learned a great deal while coaching as an assistant at Verona (under Alex Kaplanovich and Lou Racioppi), Whippany Park (Ed Cumming), and New Brunswick (John Quinn).
Kubik was brought in by then Madison AD Sean Dowling and was the first Madison teacher who taught in the school since the early 1990s. Kubik’s immediate coaching predecessors – Judge, John Davies, Milt Theodosatos and Sam Iacobone – did not teach in Madison.
Said longtime Madison assistant coach Kevin Carroll, “Kevin took pieces from everywhere he coached and had a very definitive program. He brought in the weight training. Summer was for the weight training and installation. Then we had mini camp with more installation.
“Then we’d start practice and hit the ground running.”
Retirement began to hit Kubik the morning after the Shabazz game, when he went into the school and began the process of cleaning out his office.
The Monday after a season ended is usually when Kubik began planning and preparing for the following season with the weight room.
So this past Monday was different.
“It’s the first time in awhile,” he said, “where I won’t be in there and be a part of the rebuild.”
So, where does the 54-year-old Kubik go from here?
Answer: Ridgeland, South Carolina.
“If things go well, I’ll be coaching in South Carolina,” he said. “I’m not trying to be a head coach, but an assistant coach. I’m old enough to have the ability to retire. My run as a head coach, unless there are circumstances where I have to … I’m ready to step aside as a head coach. It’ll be weird not being a head coach and not being the head coach at Madison.
“My wife is down there. I’m living at my childhood home in Clifton right now. My retirement is Jan. 1, so on Dec. 23 when we go on break, I am going south. I’m in my last few weeks as a teacher. I’ll say my good byes and on Christmas Eve, I’ll be in Ridgeland (½ hour outside of Hilton Head).
“My wife and I had a five-year plan. We set the plan in motion and we never veered from it. The countdown started. It was five years, then four, then three … and this will be it.”
Kubik played at Clifton and started out at Verona as a volunteer assistant under Kaplanovich, who he played for at Clifton. He came to Morris County at Whippany and then returned to Kaplanovich’s staff at Verona. Then, he coached under Quinn, the former Roxbury coach.
Kubik heard about the Madison opening and inquired. He interviewed and soon, Dowling called.
“He gave me the heads up that I would be the guy,” Kubik said. “I was proud and excited that I had the chance.”
Over time, Kubik became very close with Monica (177-50-4, nine state championships), the school’s legendary head football coach from 1955-1981. Monica died March 3, 2020.
After Kubik was hired, he received a note from Monica, wishing him well.
“He gave me advice and support,” Kubik said. I always made a point to see him in the spring, he called me every championship win. When we won the championship in 2016, I got him a ring as well. It was our 10th year as a staff and I gave him a memento for always supporting us.”
Kubik vividly recalls his first few days and weeks at his new post.
“I remember the building and the process and hiring guys, like it was yesterday,” he said. “The first game (a 35-13 win over Butler in the old Northern Hills Conference-Suburban Division) was when they named the field after Ted Monica on Ted Monica Day. It was a 50-minute halftime, I think. We beat Butler, so it was a lot of fun for me that day.
“There were so many memories. That was one of the first ones for me.”
There were many more fond memories than forgettable ones.
Each of the championship seasons had their own flavor.
- The 2010 Dodgers became the first team in school history to go 12-0 (they’d do that for three straight years and again in 2016 and ended the year with a 28-21 win over NHC-Suburban rival Caldwell at Kean. Caldwell came on late with 21 fourth-quarter points, but when the Chiefs made it 21-14 in the fourth quarter, Madison’ Aaron Fant returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. The Dodgers featured four All-Daily Record performers in Fant, Matt McHale, Colin McLindon, and Mike Stanaert.
- The 2011 club was arguably the best in school history and thumped Summit in the finals, 47-7. Word leading up to the game was that all Summit had to do to break into the Star-Ledger state football Top 20 was win the section. Well, the Dodgers hammered the Hilltoppers – and never made it into the Top 20. Running back Justin Goodwin had a junior season for the ages following the blocks of Shone Register, going 22 for 164 and two TDs against Summit and 133 for 1,789 yards and 34 TDs. Goowin broke the school record for points scored that had belonged to Pete Jilleba, arguably the best athlete in Morris County history.
- In 2012, Madison put its stout defense up in the display window by beating Mountain Lakes in the sectional final at Kean, 13-0. Goodwin, one of the best all-around players in Morris County history, was 17 for 124 rushing and scored a 43-yard touchdown run and threw a 20-yard TD to a wide-open Joey Geyer to highlight the offense. Nick Haboj and Register keyed a defense that held Mountain Lakes on no less than four fourth-down plays. Madison ended the year with a 37-game winning streak and it would stretch to 39 the following year with wins over Dover and Parsippany before a 27-7 loss to Hanover Park.
- The 2015 team got off to a 1-2 start but once it found its footing didn’t lose again. After beating Mountain Lakes in their season opener (33-6), the Dodgers lost to Lenape Valley (23-15) and Butler (42-41), before reeling off nine straight wins to end the year. The season was capped by a win over Lenape in the state semifinals (14-7) and the Madison defense dominating Rutherford at MetLife in the state final (27-6). Joe Mobley and Dom Luppino were two of the many defensive headliners that night.
- There would be no stumbling out of the box in 2016 as Kubik’s team went 12-0. The Dodgers beat Lenape Valley in a high-scoring battle on Opening Day (44-42) before winning a slugfest over Lenape at MetLife (13-7). The team’s signature win was in the state semifinals, when Madison beat Hanover Park (34-33), when Hanover running back Rory DeLuca was stopped at the line for no gain on a two-point conversion try by Dodgers Griffin Meister, Dante DiIonno, Max Downing, and Brian Kraska.
“The thing that made him a great coach was he always had a plan and he stuck with the plan,” Carroll said. “One of those years, the year we lost to Lenape and Butler, he stuck with the plan. Maybe that plan didn’t work in those weeks, but he stuck with that plan. “To me, he is a coaching legend. He knows what he wants and how to get there and we did get there that year.”
Madison got there very often in many seasons under Kubik. Now his seat is open. The search for his replacement is underway, and the shoes to fill are gigantic.
