Can They Do It Again?

Last season was special for Haddonfield football.

The Bulldawgs won their first state title title in 46 years by upsetting West Deptford on the road in December to walk away with the South Jersey Group 2 title. This year a group of seniors who began playing together in elementary school will try to do it again.

“This is a special group of seniors,” Bulldawgs head coach Frank DeLano said this week before his team’s final practice for Friday’s home opener against Collingswood. “They are very close. They are leaders on the field and off, in the community and in the classroom. Their academic success has translated into athletic success. They are dedicated to everything they do. They’ve been together since they were 7 or 8 years old. It’s a special group to be around. I’ve enjoyed watching them grow up over the years and I’ve enjoyed watching them as players.”

Ten of DeLano’s defensive starters will be seniors, nine on offense. The defensive and offense lines will be anchored by Jim Cashman, who has committed to Boston College and, at 6-foot-6 and 280 pounds, is a formidable presence in the trenches. Jack Knecht and Alex Walter will join him on both lines. Lining up behind them at linebacker will be Matt Bhaya, Rob Perkins and Carson Stack.

Dan Ciemniecki, who starts in the secondary on defense, will be under center leading the offense. He’ll have Bhaya as a one of his targets at wide receiver when he’s not handing the ball off to running back Chris Dengler.

It is this type of experience and leadership that DeLano believes will have the Bulldawgs heading into the season just as hungry and determined as last year.

“These kids have been in pressure situations,” DeLano explained. “They played close games. They’ve been in big games they’ve won and they’ve experienced some losses. They are a confident group and they are excited. They’re at the point where they want to play.”

A big part of last year's success was the play of the Davis twins, Kevin and Chris. Kevin Davis set the pace in the championship game with a 74-yard, touchdown run on the second play of the game. If the Bulldawgs are going to repeat this year, they'll have to do it without the Davis boys, who graduated in June.

DeLano knows it will be a challenge in the Colonial Conference. He said six or seven teams make the playoffs every year. The Bulldogs main competition in the Liberty Division will be West Deptford, the defending champion, but first comes Collingswood under first-year head coach Jack McConnell, who takes over for Bob Barikian. Last year McConnell served as the Panthers defensive coordinator.

Rules only permit exchanging film of each team’s final preseason scrimmage. So DeLano will gather what he can from that and go back and review tendencies from last year. But the reality is the Bulldawgs have to be ready for anything.

“This is the part that is stressful,” DeLano said. “You want to make sure you prepare enough but you don’t want to feed them too much. Defensively we’ll show them everything they did in the past. Offensively we’ll do what we’re good at, that’s who we are. We will prepare for everything and hope at the end of the day it’s enough.”