options Don't tell Adam Augugliaro this is a rebuilding season for Haddonfield football.
Don't tell Brian Collins the Bulldogs are a team in transition.
Don't tell Mike DiNoia that his class is a bridge between one great era in the history of the program and another.
These guys are seniors. They have respect for Haddonfield's past and hope for Haddonfield's future, but they are more concerned with the here and now.
"We've embraced the challenge," said DiNoia, a two-way lineman and the only returning starter to take the field for the Bulldogs this season. "If people want to say this program is going to take a step back this season, we're determined to show them what we're all about."
Haddonfield is young, with eight sophomores in the regular rotation as well as a freshman kicker. Haddonfield also is inexperienced, with 11 new starters on defense and 10 on offense.
The Bulldogs have a strong-armed and talented quarterback in junior Mike McLaughlin - who was firing 40-yard spirals with accuracy during practice on Thursday - and a loaded freshman class.
So tomorrow could be a good day for the Bulldogs.
But seniors focus on today.
"This is their time," Haddonfield coach Frank DeLano said. "This is their time to carry the torch, to make their mark. They've seen what past classes have done. They want to represent the tradition."
Haddonfield went 32-4 from 2009 to 2011, made three straight South Jersey Group 2 title games, and in 2010 won the school's first sectional title since the creation of the playoff system in 1974. It arguably was the best era in the history of the program.
But most folks figured it ended when the Bulldogs graduated all those seniors after last season.
"I knew we were going to be better than people thought," said Collins, a tight end and linebacker. "I get motivated every time I step on the field, thinking people were saying that we weren't going to be a good team anymore."
Haddonfield is 3-1 entering Saturday's key Colonial Conference interdivision clash with 3-1 Woodbury. The Bulldogs have gotten good work from those sophomores, and McLaughlin is starting to come into his own, but the key has been the play and leadership of the seniors.
Augugliaro leads the team in rushing yards (302 on 50 carries) and touchdowns (four). Collins leads in tackles with 27. DiNoia has been the anchor of a rebuilt offensive line at center.
DeLano said his three captains also have stepped up as leaders.
"I learned so much watching the seniors last year," Augugliaro said. "I had grown up with those guys, and I watched the way they played every sport.
"They led by example, not by yelling. They led by how they played."
DiNoia said the three captains got together soon after the end of last season and vowed that this season would be a continuation of this golden era in Haddonfield football.
Things would change.
Things also would stay the same.
"I can remember getting together with Adam and Brian and saying, 'Just because we lost all those seniors, we can't say we're not going to have a good team,' " DiNoia said. "This is a new team, a different team. But this is our senior year. We don't want to take a backseat to anybody."
Contact Phil Anastasia at panastasia@phillynews.com or @PhilAnastasia on Twitter. Read his blog, "Jersey Side Sports," at www.philly.com/jerseysidesports
Source : philly[dot]com
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