Same went for Friday nights along Station Avenue in the heart of the leafy little town.

"That's where we would hang out," said Jack Johnson, a key player for Baker's legendary 1943 and 1944 teams. "On Friday nights he would ride up and down and see what we were doing. He wanted to make sure we weren't smoking or getting into trouble."

In tact and temperament, Baker was a coach from another time.

But his teams are timeless.

Baker was one of the most accomplished football coaches in South Jersey history, known for his stern demeanor and equally unflinching defenses. He will be posthumously inducted into the Camden County Sports Hall of Fame Oct. 30 at Lucien's Restaurant in Berlin.

"When it came to defense, he was ahead of his time," Johnson said.

Baker coached Haddon Heights from 1935 to '52, compiling a 91-39-13 record. His 1939, 1943 and 1944 teams were undefeated. From 1939 to '49, his teams went 62-17-9, and that includes a 1-4-3 mark in 1942.

"He just knew how to get us playing as a unit," said Carl Wilson, who was a captain of the 1944 team. "He would tell us some things very forcefully. He could be negative. But he would spur us on to do better."

Baker's teams were renowned for their hard-hitting defense. In 1943 and 1944, the so-called "Super Teams of Second Avenue" played 16 games. They recorded 15 shutouts. They went 15-0-1.

The 1944 team, which tied Haddonfield, 0-0, in one of the most famous games in the 107-year-old Thanksgiving Day rivalry, was the last South Jersey team to finish a season without allowing a point.

Baker's 1939 team was nearly as good. The Garnets that year allowed two points - on a safety by Palmyra.

"He was an excellent defensive coach," Johnson said. "He always had us in position."

Baker was a Gettysburg College graduate who first made an impact on the South Jersey football scene as the coach at Wenonah Military Academy, a prep school in Gloucester County. His teams played remarkable defense back then, too.

His 1922 Wenonah Military team was unscored upon. So was his 1927 team, which outscored opponents by 348-0.

Baker arrived at Haddon Heights in the mid-1930s, and his style and success only ratcheted up the rivalry with Haddonfield, which was led during those years by legendary coach Cy Marter. Three times in the 1940s, the teams played to 0-0 ties on Thanksgiving Day.

"Those guys didn't like each other," Johnson said of Baker and Marter.

Baker was a demanding disciplinarian. His teams ran a single-wing offense and played five- and seven-man fronts on defense.

"He was a taskmaster," Wilson said. "I think he might have had a nervous stomach or something because he always was a nervous wreck, walking up and down. But he was a great coach."

In his book, A History of South Jersey Football, the late Doug Frambes noted that when Baker ended his run as the Haddon Heights coach after the 1952 season, it was in part because "there were those who felt Baker's . . . manner of dealing with boys was too harsh and old-fashioned."

Baker's teams reflected his toughness. The Garnets were a Group 3 power in those days, and their Thanksgiving Day games with Haddonfield routinely drew 10,000 people to see two of the best programs in South Jersey.

There's an old story that Baker was upset when Haddonfield scored a late touchdown in a 31-0 victory in 1941. Meeting Marter at midfield after the game, Baker supposedly vowed that Haddonfield wouldn't score on Haddon Heights for the next seven years.

Over the next seven Thanksgiving Day games, Haddon Heights shut out Haddonfield six times. The Bulldogs only points came in a 26-7 Garnets victory in 1947.

"I don't know whether he said it or not," Johnson said. "But I can tell you this: He was capable of it."

Phil Anastasia: Induction Tickets

George "Cap" Baker will be one of 14 inductees into the Camden County Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 30

at Lucien's Restaurant in Berlin.

Call Kim Vesper at the office of the Camden County Clerk at 856-225-5322 for ticket information.