By Steve Sears

From 1967 to 1981, legendary Butler High School Bulldog head football coach Jack Davies and his teams averaged almost eight wins a season, won a number of Suburban Conference championships, but a state title for the gridiron-talented school was elusive.

That all changed in 1982, when the Bulldogs – featuring a grind it out offense and extremely stubborn defense – defeated Caldwell at Pequannock High School, 23 – 7, for their first NJSIAA North II Group II state sectional championship. Davies and Butler had their first state football title, and they’d get another a year later, when the Bulldogs traveled to a snowy field in Hillside and claimed a 16 – 8 victory over the host team

Butler finished 11 – 0 both seasons, and won 24 straight games until an early season loss in 1984.

Some familiar names ring a bell immediately. Howard Alexander, Chuck Tepper, Mark Lisa, Mark Tracy, Kevin Duffy, Steve Zignorski, Gary Geiger, Dan Dooley, and many others.

Mark Mickens was a first-time coach in 1982, helping out with the defensive line and special teams. “The 1982 team was so dominant defensively,” he says. “I’ve been there for many, many years and I don’t recall us ever having a more dominant defensive team. We had seven shutdowns that year. We were just so good defensively, and we ran the ball effectively with a big offensive line. Howie (Howard Alexander in 1982) was a big power runner, and in 1983 we had a running back named Brian Woop who never played until he was a senior. He was not a big guy but he was quick, which changed a little bit what we did offensively.”

Against Caldwell in 1982, Alexander rushed 32 times for 162 years and two touchdowns. He also played cornerback on defense that season and returned punts. “In both state games, the Hackettstown game and the Caldwell game, we felt as though we could dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and then we could run on them,” he recalls. “It was a special game. The linemen were able to create enough of a seam for me.”

Chuck Tepper was a junior in 1982, and returned for his senior season in 1983. “Our line was bigger that first year,” he says. “Both teams were running teams, but the second year had maybe more of a pass complement. Definitely a power run the first year, speed and agility that second year.” Tepper then echoes Micken’s opinion about the Bulldog defense. “That first year, the big distinction in my mind between the two teams was defensively. We gave up very few points that first year. That ’82 team defense was amazing.”

Mark Lisa, like Tepper, played for both championship clubs. He alternated at quarterback his junior season with Kent Stock, and took over the duties full time his senior year. “Dan Gormley was a fullback, but he still had great speed and great moves. Dan was a little bit bigger than Brian (Woop), but these guys could run and they were tough as nails. They gave us some really good ball running capabilities, because we were not a big passing team. We passed when needed.”

In 1983. the Bulldogs returned to the field with a winning streak and with a target on their backs. Tepper says, “We really came in that second year confident. We weren’t overconfident, but we were definitely confident going into that second year that we were going to win, and it was just a matter of how we were going to do it.”

Lisa says of the Hillside game, “When we got there, there was almost an inch of snow on the field, but that slowly dissipated. It was a little bit of a wet track, and we knew it was going to be one of those knock them down, drag them out dogfights. They were a pretty big team, but we proved that we were so disciplined, and that all you have to do is block and tackle right, and you have to run the ball and hand off properly, and make your throws properly. I do believe we played a very strong, clean game.’

Tepper is asked if he favors either team. “They’re both great, but I’m thinking I would have to say the second one. And my reasoning would be I was a senior, not a junior. It was my senior year. I know teams have gone 11 – 0 and won state championships, but not many probably go 22 – 0 and win two. And for me, I was lucky enough to start both years at center.”

Alexander remembers the final minutes of the Caldwell game, “They were asking all the seniors to come off one at a time,” he says. “I was just thinking about my entire childhood and my dad coaching me, playing with all my friends, and that we brought the first state championship back to Butler. That’s probably the proudest part of winning the state championship, and I think the most special part was

the fact that I was able to do it with my friends.”

Jack Davies left Butler High School after the 1983 season with a record of 128 wins, 24 losses, and 24 ties.