Sign-In
Cart
Just Enough: Netcong. More Than It Knew.
Paperback
FootballGeneral World HistoryRegional: Middle Atlantic
ISBN13: 9781969377983
Publisher: Lou Basenese, Jr
Published: Nov 12 2026
Pages: 218
Weight: 0.88
Height: 0.59 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
In the fall of 1950, a small high school football team from Netcong, New Jersey, did something extraordinary.
Eight games. Eight victories. No ties.
They finished the season undefeated.
But Just Enough: Netcong. More Than It Knew. is not really a football story.
It is the story of what came before.
Before the touchdowns, before the records, before the photographs and newspaper headlines, there were families, neighbors, coaches, teachers, shopkeepers, and townspeople quietly shaping a generation.
Netcong was a small town built by immigrants, working families, faith, sacrifice, discipline, and the expectation that people looked out for one another. Children grew up beneath watchful eyes. Shopkeepers knew their names. Neighbors knew their parents. Coaches demanded more than athletic performance. Families learned to make something meaningful out of having just enough.
At the center of the story is Netcong High School's remarkable 1950 football team, including record-setting Johnny Giannantonio and coach James Big Jim McConlogue. Their season became legendary, but their success did not begin when the first game was played. Those boys had been becoming who they were for years.
The scoreboard was the result.
The town was the reason.
Through historical research, photographs, oral histories, family memories, newspaper accounts, and the voices of those who knew Netcong best, authors Lou Basenese Jr. and Sandy Havelin recreate a time when community was not an idea but a way of life.
They tell the stories of the Hostess Shop and Shirley Havelin, Rea's Tavern, Mary Pierson, Big Jim, Johnny G, and the families and neighborhoods that formed the foundation beneath that undefeated team.
What emerges is more than the story of one season.
It is a portrait of a town.
A portrait of a generation.
And a reminder of something modern life can easily forget:
Having just enough can teach us what having too much never could.
Just Enough is for anyone who remembers a hometown that helped raise its children, anyone who believes character is formed long before it is tested, and anyone who understands that the greatest victories are rarely achieved alone.
They had just enough.
And somehow, together, it became more than enough.
1 different editions
Also available
Also from
Basenese, Lou
Between The Sauce, Stars and Heaven: A Memoir of Love, Loss and the Tables That Raised Us
Basenese, Lou
Paperback
The Christmas Candle Caper: A Heartwarming Christmas Story About Faith, Kindness, and the True Meaning of the Season
Basenese, Lou
Hardcover
Moonlit Maze Mystery: A fall adventure full of glowing bugs, lost feathers and tail-thumping teamwork
Basenese, Lou
Paperback
The Christmas Candle Caper: A Heartwarming Christmas Story About Faith, Kindness, and the True Meaning of the Season
Basenese, Lou
Paperback
Nickel Nights & Silver Stars: A Time-Travel Tale of Friendship, Faith, and The Heart of Bellamora
Basenese, Lou
Paperback
Nickel Nights & Silver Stars: A Time-Travel Tale of Friendship, Faith, and The Heart of Bellamora
Basenese, Lou
Hardcover
Between The Sauce, Stars and Heaven: A Memoir of Love, Loss and the Tables That Raised Us
Basenese, Lou
Hardcover
Between The Sauce, Stars and Heaven: A Memoir of Love, Loss and the Tables That Raised Us
Basenese, Lou
Hardcover
Also in
Regional: Middle Atlantic
A Light in Dark Times: The New School for Social Research and Its University in Exile
Friedlander, Judith
Paperback
Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation's Capital
Asch, Chris Myers
Musgrove, George Derek
Paperback
The Water Carriers: A Journey Through Cherokee History and the Secret Life of Rivers
Smithers, Gregory D.
Hardcover
The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City and Sparked the Tabloid Wars
Collins, Paul
Paperback
The Mayor: One Poor City's Fight to Bring Back Government and Save the Nation's Soul
Alexander, Brian
Hardcover
History Hiding Around Broadway: Backstage Lore, Secrets & Surprises from New York's Famed Theater District
Dvornik, Teale
Hardcover
Spiritualism's Place: Reformers, Seekers, and Séances in Lily Dale
Handley-Cousins, Sarah
Rhodes, Marissa C.
Earls, Averill
Hardcover
The Only Plane in the Sky (Revised and Expanded Edition for the 25th Anniversary): An Oral History of 9/11
Graff, Garrett M.
Hardcover
Moses and the Doctor: Two Men, One Championship, and the Birth of Modern Basketball
Epplin, Luke
Hardcover
Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America
Shorto, Russell
Paperback
First Adirondackers: 12,000 Years of Indigenous Peoples in the Adirondack Uplands
Stager, Curt
Fadden, David Kanietakeron
Paperback
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
Blum, Deborah
Paperback
Hidden Histories of Jazz Age New York: From the Suppressed to the Strange
Goldman, Jonathan Ezra
Paperback
Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America
Shorto, Russell
Hardcover
The Indispensables: The Diverse Soldier-Mariners Who Shaped the Country, Formed the Navy, and Rowed Washington Across the Delaware
O'Donnell, Patrick K.
Paperback
Pepperpot City: Philadelphia and the Foundation of American Cuisine, an Illustrated History
Weaver, William Woys
Hardcover
Spooky Pennsylvania: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore
Schlosser, S. E.
Paperback
George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution
Yaeger, Don
Kilmeade, Brian
Paperback
The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America
Shorto, Russell
Paperback
The French Connection: A True Account of Cops, Narcotics, and International Conspiracy
Moore, Robin
Paperback
Rose Knox: How One Woman Mixed Kitchen and Boardroom to Remold an American Business
Greenfield, Rachel
Hardcover
Before New York: The Natural Geography of the City: An Atlas and Gazetteer
Sanderson, Eric W.
Hardcover
Hannah Mary Tabbs and the Disembodied Torso: A Tale of Race, Sex, and Violence in America
Gross, Kali Nicole
Paperback
We're Not Leaving: 9/11 Responders Tell Their Stories of Courage, Sacrifice, and Renewal
Luft, Benjamin J.
Paperback
Blood and the Badge: The Mafia, Two Killer Cops, and a Scandal That Shocked the Nation
Cannell, Michael
Hardcover
City Tavern: The Founding Table--Colonial Dining, Revolutionary History, and the Restaurant at the Center of It All
Diamond, Becky Libourel
Paperback
More Punk Than the Public Library: The Adventures of a Little Free Punk Rock Bookstore
Bennett, J. Hunter
Paperback
Into the Night: A Jailbreak and Double Homicide on Maryland's Eastern Shore
Fowler, Stephanie L.
Paperback
Cycling the Erie Canal: A Guide to 360 Miles of Adventure and History Along the Erie Canalway Trail
Parks & Trails New York
Paperback
All Roads Lead to Hastings-on-Hudson: A History of the Lower Hudson River Valley and New York City
Lillard, Jonathan Foster
Paperback
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City
Mahler, Jonathan
Paperback
The Maid and the Socialite: The Brave Women Behind Green Bay's Scandalous Minahan Trials
Drews, Lynda
Paperback
A Monument of Charity: St. Vincent's Hospital and Catholic Health Care in New York City
Rzeznik, Thomas F.
Hardcover
Forty-Four Years, the Life of a Hunter: Being Reminiscences of Meshach Browning, a Maryland Hunter and Trapper
Browning, Meshach
Paperback
Georgetown's Retail Past: Generations of Shops and Restaurants in One of America's Great Historic Neighborhoods
Peters, Kenneth G.
Paperback
Mob and the City: The Hidden History of How the Mafia Captured New York
Hortis, C. Alexander
Hardcover
The Hudson Valley: The First 250 Million Years: A Mostly Chronological and Occasionally Personal History
Levine, David
Paperback
The Worst Day: A Plane Crash, a Train Wreck, and Remarkable Acts of Heroism in Washington, DC
Goldfarb, Bruce
Paperback
They Said It Couldn't Be Done: The '69 Mets, New York City, and the Most Astounding Season in Baseball History
Coffey, Wayne
Paperback
The Bowery Boys: Adventures in Old New York: Historic Streets, Hidden Spots, and Iconic Neighborhoods in Manhattan
Young, Greg
Meyers, Tom
Paperback
Historic Maps of Philadelphia: A History of the City of Brotherly Love in Rare Maps
Lane, Chris
Pompilio, Natalie
Hardcover
Fighting for New York: Activism for Health and Social Justice Since the 1960s
Freudenberg, Nicholas
Paperback
150 Years of Racing in Saratoga: Little-Known Stories & Facts from America's Most Historic Racing City
Carter, Allan
Kane, Mike
Hardcover
Upstaters: Poets, Pols, Prophets, and Bush-League Heroes of Upstate New York
Kauffman, Bill
Paperback
A Hudson Valley Reckoning: Discovering the Forgotten History of Slaveholding in My Dutch American Family
Bruno, Debra
Hardcover
The Sewards of New York: A Biography of a Leading American Political Family
Slaughter, Thomas P.
Hardcover
The Divided Ground: Indians, Settlers, and the Northern Borderland of the American Revolution
Taylor, Alan
Paperback
A Lady in the Lake: The True Story of Death and Discovery in Lake Placid
Ortloff, George Christian
Paperback
111 Places in Women's History in Washington DC That You Must Not Miss
Grawl, Rebecca
Calogera, Kaitlin
Paperback
Brooklynites: The Remarkable Story of the Free Black Communities That Shaped a Borough
Kanakamedala, Prithi
Hardcover
Cornell '77: The Music, the Myth, and the Magnificence of the Grateful Dead's Concert at Barton Hall
Conners, Peter
Hardcover
Into the Night: A Jailbreak and Double Homicide on Maryland's Eastern Shore
Fowler, Stephanie L.
Hardcover
The Rising Generation: Gradual Abolition, Black Legal Culture, and the Making of National Freedom
Gronningsater, Sarah L. H.
Paperback
Your Children Are Very Greatly in Danger: School Segregation in Rochester, New York
Murphy, Justin
Paperback
Hidden Waters of New York City: A History and Guide to 101 Forgotten Lakes, Ponds, Creeks, and Streams in the Five Boroughs
Kadinsky, Sergey
Paperback
A Century of Music Under the Stars: A History of the Mann Center for the Performing Arts and Robin Hood Dell
McCarthy, Jack
The Mann Center for the Performing Arts
Hardcover
Blood and the Badge: The Mafia, Two Killer Cops, and a Scandal That Shocked the Nation
Cannell, Michael
Paperback
The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Frontier Rebels Who Challenged America's Newfound Sovereignty
Hogeland, William
Paperback
Bellevue: Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America's Most Storied Hospital
Oshinsky, David
Paperback
The Ritz with a Shvitz: The Rise and Fall of the Lower East Side's Libby's Hotel in Tammany Era New York
Berger, Shulamith Z.
Zion, Jai
Paperback
The Race Underground: Boston, New York, and the Incredible Rivalry That Built America's First Subway
Most, Doug
Paperback
97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement
Ziegelman, Jane
Paperback
Spooky New Jersey: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore
Schlosser, S. E.
Paperback
Rhythms of Resistance and Resilience: How Black Washingtonians Used Music and Sports in the Fight for Equality
Jackson, Maurice
Hardcover
Queen of Bohemia Predicts Own Death: Gilded-Age Journalist Zoe Anderson Norris
Kahn, Eve M.
Hardcover