"I never gave up. I was always ready to go to work for my brothers."
Lamar Best always believed, and on Friday, his dreams came true.
Best and NJ.com No. 2-ranked St. Joseph (Mont.) defeated No. 1 Don Bosco Prep in a 24-21 final in the NJSIAA/Xfinity Non-Public A championship at MetLife Stadium, but the journey to the top of the mountain was by no means easy, and for Best especially.
After a strong 2024 campaign in his first year with St. Joseph (Mont.), injuries were derailing Best's senior season.
The Willingboro native suffered a hamstring strain in the preseason that lingered several weeks into the year. In Week 3 at Paramus Catholic while struggling through the hamstring injury, he took a hit in the third quarter and suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder -- his throwing arm.
Labrum tears are typically season-enders for pitchers. For quarterbacks, they tend to be as big a nightmare. Best was living in it.
"When it first happened, the pain wasn't tolerable," Best said. "It was a rollercoaster. It was a lot of pain."
His peers told him to pack it in and gear up for college. He ignored them. Even with all the agony, tears, and time spent on the sideline, Best still had a hunch he would get another shot.
That opportunity came.
Senior quarterback Mason Geis threw a touchdown pass to set up the two-point conversion that won SJR its Week 7 matchup against Bergen Catholic. On the play prior, Geis suffered a Lisfranc injury and underwent season-ending surgery days later.
Geis served as Best's backup for two seasons after transferring from Immaculata, but the St. Joseph brass never viewed him that way. They always viewed the South Plainfield as a signal caller they could always plug in and get positive results from.
He was delivering those results. It was crushing news that his season was over.
"If I could clone Mason for as long as I'm going to be here, I would," St. Joseph head coach Augie Hoffmann said. "There's no one I know who would do what he did. He trusted the process. It speaks volumes about him and his family. For him to do what he did at Bergen that day, he did it on one foot."
In his three starts, Geis played terrifically and completed 49-of-63 passes for 709 yards, five touchdowns and only two interceptions. It was a devastating injury for a Green Knights team that was humming offensively and carrying momentum, but the show had to go on.
Insert Best, who in the middle of the year was in too much pain to even attempt a pass. His "warmup" against Don Bosco Prep in the regular season was one 15-yard lobbed pass an hour before the game.
Best's first outing back under center came against DePaul in Week 8. He completed 9-of-18 passes for 87 yards to go with four rushes for 34 yards.
Braced up and on plenty of pain medication to continue playing, Best laced it up for the Green Knights' playoff run and delivered with each week.
In the postseason, Best completed 31-of-45 passes for 463 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 89 yards and a score on 21 rushing attempts.
His big night, despite it not being statistically eye-opening, came on Friday under the bright lights of the Meadowlands that had him starstruck. He ended the game with 88 yards and a touchdown on 10-of-15 passing to go with 10 rushes for 35 yards and a touchdown.
Best extended plays on the hamstring that held him back early in the season, and made the difficult passes across his body on his bad shoulder to pump life into the SJR offense. The moments that never seemed possible a few weeks ago came on the biggest stage of the year in front of a crowd of 12,000.
"In the fourth quarter, I actually took it in a little bit when I should've been focused," Best said of the atmosphere. "I just looked around and listened to how loud it was. It was amazing. My freshman and sophomore year at Willingboro and last year, I lost in the state semifinals. I wanted to get over the hump."
The night ended with Best lifting his arms in the air, getting his hands on the state championship trophy, and taking a celebratory picture with Geis and his offensive coordinator Gary Nova.
SJR had the heart of a champion in 2025. On Friday, no one showed more than Best.
"I don't have words for what Lamar was able to do this year," Hoffmann said. "People don't do what he did. He learned something about himself. He displayed toughness all year and my hat is off to him. He put us on his back."
"Everybody loves each other here," Best added. "Everyone plays for each other, and that's why we were able to come out on top. It was only a matter of time."