Phil Anastasia: A mighty clash brings sound of silence

Thirty-eight years later, they still remember the sound.

Or, rather, the absence of it.

For more than two hours, on a crystal clear Thanksgiving Day morning in 1970, the football teams from Haddonfield and Haddon Heights played one of the most famous games in South Jersey history.

It was an "epic game," according to then-Haddon Heights coach Jim Horner, played before an estimated 12,000 spectators at Haddonfield's stadium.

It was a classic clash between the No. 1 and No. 3 teams in South Jersey, with lead changes, momentum shifts, and a dramatic, climactic finish that brought the steady, mounting roar of the overflow crowd to an absolute crescendo.

Then nothing.

Then silence.

"I've been around sports for a long time," said Brian Villalobos, a sophomore defensive back for Haddonfield that day. "I've never seen anything like that. It was dead silence. It was the strangest ending of all time."

The crowd was stunned, and maybe a little confused as well – not sure whether to laugh or cry, cheer or complain, salute the effort or lament the lack of resolution.

It was The Last Big Game in South Jersey, and it's enduring legacy is this: Nobody won. Nobody lost, either. It ended in a 26-26 tie.

"I'd remember it better if we won," said Jim Eckerd, Haddon Heights' quarterback that day. "But I'll never forget the silence. It was over, and nobody knew what to do.

"We were disappointed. We thought we should have won. But looking back, maybe it's fitting that we tied. Those were two teams that just refused to lose."

That game on Nov. 26, 1970 had everything: crowd, atmosphere, stakes, tradition and rivalry.

It was a "perfect storm," according to Dave Sandowich, then a junior guard for Haddon Heights and now the school's principal.

"Everything came together to make that event," Sandowich said. "You had two top teams, a big rivalry, Thanksgiving Day, great weather, an unbelievable crowd. I don't remember another game like it."

It was a game that echoed of an earlier time, of the period from the late 1930s to the early 1960s when high school football was the unifying factor in many communities and when Thanksgiving Day games were the biggest events on the local sports calendar.

Things were changing, even as the teams played the near-perfect game on that near-perfect autumn morning 38 years ago today.

In 1973, the NJSIAA would announce plans to institute a playoff system for football. That meant teams would compete for sectional championships on the field, marginalizing the importance of the Thanksgiving Day games.

In 1972, Congress would enact Title IX, landmark legislation that would open the way for an explosion in girls' sports. Soccer would boom in the 1970s and 1980s, especially at the youth level, leading to massive growth of the sport in high school athletic programs.

Meanwhile, the NFL was capitalizing on the success of Super Bowl III – the Joe Namath-led New York Jets' upset of the Baltimore Colts – as well as sophisticated television programming to gradually begin to dominate the interest of sports fans.

Expanding television coverage also led to growth in the exposure and popularity of sports such as the NBA, college basketball and, more recently, NASCAR. College football was hugely popular in 1970, but that sport also benefited from television's burgeoning ability to broadcast more and more games.

In the years before and after World War II, through the 1950s and into early 1960s, high school football was huge in South Jersey. Those big, old concrete stadiums at Collingswood, Audubon, Woodbury and Haddonfield, among other places, were built to accommodate crowds of 7,000 and 10,000 for Saturday afternoon games, when towns would shut down so everybody could make their way to the local high school.

Crowds of around 5,000 were common for regular-season games. Big games, especially traditional Thanksgiving Day rivalries, would regularly draw 10,000 spectators.

But those traditions started to give way a bit amid the social upheaval of the 1960s and never returned to prior levels as other sports and other interests loosened high school football's grip on the community. Nowadays, a big game such as the Nov. 14 playoff clash between Group 4 powers Williamstown and Washington Township draws around 2,500 to 3,000 spectators.

Haddon Heights was 8-0 and ranked first in South Jersey. Haddonfield was 7-1, on a seven-game winning streak - the Bulldogs had lost to Moorestown in the opener - and ranked third.

The game would decide the Colonial Conference championship, and also the South Jersey Group 2 title - unofficially in the latter case since sectional titles in those days were "awarded" rather than won on the field.

They were old rivals, since the Thanksgiving Day series began in 1902. They had played some of the most famous games of the 1940s, including three 0-0 ties. And they were fresh off a 7-6 Haddon Heights win on Thanksgiving Day in 1969.

"We thought we should have won that [1969] game," said Dan Cronk, Haddonfield's quarterback. "We thought there was no way they could beat us again."

Said Eckerd: "There was a lot of heat building up to that game. It was like a sequel to 1969."

The weather was ideal – sunny, around 50 degrees, with little wind.

Published reports estimated the crowd at 12,000, although there were no exact figures. It likely was the last time a high school football game in South Jersey drew more than 10,000 spectators, although some tournament championship games might have approached that mark.

There were people on top of the high school, watching from the roof. There were kids in the trees that ringed the field.

"It was unbelievable," Horner said of the crowd. "I never saw that many people. I know they were still selling tickets at halftime, that's how many people were trying to get in.

"They were everywhere. There were people on my sideline because there was no place else for them to go.

"I bumped into a kid on my sideline, and I was like, 'What are you doing here? I'm trying to coach.'

"He said, 'I want to see this game.' "

It was a game that lived up to the atmosphere.

There were zero punts as both offenses marched up and down the field with powerful ground games. Haddon Heights had 18 first downs. Haddonfield had 19. Haddon Heights had 254 rushing yards. Haddonfield had 250.

"I don't remember mistakes," said Russ Spicer, who was Haddonfield's coach at the time. "Usually, you think back on a game, and you remember this mistake or that mistake by either team. But I don't remember any in that game."

Horner said the hitting was hard and clean.

"Everything was just so crisp," Horner said. "The weather was perfect, the field was in a great shape, and the pads were popping on every play."

Haddon Heights was led by fullback Mike Bomgardner, who would play at Duke, as well as Eckerd and halfback Jim Bartholomew.

Haddonfield featured Cronk, fullback Steve Fessler and halfbacks Ken Roth and Dave Krier.

"It was one of those games when you just get to a whole another level," Cronk said from his home in Lucas, Texas. "Everybody was in that state. The level of concentration and focus was just at another level."

Haddonfield took a 20-12 halftime lead on Krier's 4-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter and Cronk's two-point conversion run.

Bomgardner pulled Haddon Heights within 20-18 with a 2-yard scoring run in the third quarter. But Haddonfield stretched its lead to 26-18 on Cronk's 1-yard run, and the Bulldogs had a chance to take a two-score lead with a conversion.

Haddonfield had kicked just four extra points all season. Spicer decided to try for another, but Denny Eastman's kick was wide.

"I didn't see the tape until 10 days or two weeks later," said Cronk, who was the holder. "I never realized I came up off the ground to get the snap and that was why Denny hesitated before he kicked it. I was so focused I never realized I had to reach up for the snap."

That gave Haddon Heights its chance. The Garnets drove down the field and pulled to within 26-24 on Bomgardner's third TD of the game. Eckerd faked to Bomgardner and pitched to Bartholomew, who skirted left end for the two-point conversion to tie the score at 26-26 with 5 minutes, 43 seconds on the clock.

"We ran that play all year," Eckerd said. "And it almost always worked."

Haddon Heights' Don Newell made an interception to stop Haddonfield's next drive. Haddonfield's Gary Vermaat made a hard tackle to stop Haddon Heights' next drive.

Finally, Haddonfield reached the Haddon Heights 24 and tried some razzle-dazzzle with a screen to Krier and a lateral to Tom Grabiak. But Haddon Heights defenders Mike Maurice and Mike Feeley combined for the tackle with 0:26 to play.

"I'll never forget it," Villalobos said. "It was 26-26, and the clock stopped with 26 seconds left, and the game was played November 26, and I was wearing No. 26."

Haddon Heights had one last chance and tried some trickery of its own. Bomgardner hit the line and turned and lateraled to Bartholomew. He gained 5 yards and was tackled.

"Game over," said the voice over the public address system. "26-26 tie."

Nobody knew what to do. The players were neither happy nor sad. Same goes for the fans.

"Everybody was numb," Sandowich said.

Everybody knew they had just watched a classic. But they didn't cheer. They didn't grumble. They quietly, almost reverently, walked out of the stadium.

Maybe they knew they had just witnessed The Last Big Game.

"We thought we should have won. They thought they should have won," Cronk said. "Looking back, almost 40 years later, I guess it was only right that it was a tie."

Haddon Heights 6 6 6 8 - 26

Haddonfield 6 14 6 0 - 26

H: Ken Roth 4 run (run fail)

HH: Mike Bomgardner 1 run (run fail)

HH: Jim Bartholomew 9 run (run fail)

H: Roth 1 run (pass fail)

H: Dave Krier 4 run (Dan Cronk run)

HH: Bomgardner 2 run (run fail)

H: Cronk 1 run (kick fail)

HH: Bomgardner 1 run (Bartholomew run)

Haddonfield and Haddon Heights will play football for the 100th time tomorrow morning at the Bulldogs' stadium. Here is a look at the rivalry:

The series

began in 1902, but the second game wasn't played until 1908.

Haddonfield

leads the series, 52-41-6.

Four of the ties

were 0-0, in 1928, 1942, 1944 and 1946.

Haddonfield

holds the edge in total points, 1,232-1,063.

Haddonfield

has won five in a row, including a 20-0 victory in 2007.

- Phil Anastasia