In 1990, the Montclair Mounties were putting together a season for the ages. They were 10-0 on the football field, ranked No. 1 in New Jersey and No. 6 in the nation. And Montclair was so dominant, it closed the regular season with four consecutive shutouts.

The Mounties, who were like the Yankees of New Jersey high school football, needed one more victory — in the state championship game — to secure the first-ever 11-0 season in school history. A mark that would place them atop the Mount Rushmore of all-time great Montclair teams.

But one opponent stood in the way. And it was a team unlike any the Mounties had ever faced before.

The Randolph Rams.

And, somehow, the Rams had perhaps even more to play for than the Mounties.

Randolph had won 48 games in a row, and one more victory — in the state championship game — would give it the all-time state record for most consecutive games without a loss.

On top of all that, Randolph’s beloved, long-time head coach, John Bauer Sr., had died just days before the playoffs began. The team was now on a mission: To win it all in their coach’s memory.

All this and more is explored in the third episode of NJ.com’s new podcast, “Lights Out: The loss of a lifetime.” You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. The eight-part series debuts a new episode every Tuesday.

This week’s episode takes listeners inside how the greatest high school football game ever came to be, and how the two team’s involved in the legendary matchup navigated their seasons to get there. Listeners will learn all about the Mountie mystique of 1990, and also learn about the historic Randolph program, where Bauer Sr. took a bunch of skinny country boys and turned them into stars.

Lights Out is a production of Campside Media and Entertainment One, in association with NJ Advance Media and XTR. The podcast is based off NJ Advance Media’s 2019 award-winning feature story, “The day that changed everything.”

You can listen, rate and subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes will be released every Tuesday.

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Matthew Stanmyre may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @MattStanmyre. Find NJ.com on Facebook.