Flacco cousins brace for an emotional football finale

It was the first play from scrimmage in last year's Audubon-Haddon Township game on Thanksgiving, and Dave Flacco delivered a crunching hit from the secondary that he'll always remember.

Correctly anticipating a running play from Audubon, Flacco leveled the poor ballcarrier for a loss in a play that would give him lifelong bragging rights.

The runner happened to be Brian Flacco, his cousin and a standout two-way performer for Audubon.

The cousins are inseparable, working out, hanging out, and generally enjoying each other's company.

So one could only imagine Brian Flacco's reaction to the hit.

"It didn't hurt," he said, laughing. "It did look good."

When Audubon hosts Haddon Township in Thursday's Thanksgiving rivalry, one that began in 1963, it will be an emotional time for the two Flaccos, not to mention their families.

Both have enjoyed banner senior seasons, and this will be the conclusion to their high school careers.

Brian Flacco is a running back and linebacker, who has rushed for 869 yards and 10 touchdowns. Dave Flacco is among the more versatile players in South Jersey. He could begin the game at quarterback, spend time at running back or even receiver, and also play in the secondary.

Thanksgiving is always an emotional time for seniors, but in this game, the emotions will spill over to their close-knit, football-crazed families.

The families frequently get together each week socially and will be sitting together at the game, albeit with different allegiances.

The Flacco name at Audubon is familiar, especially since Brian's older brother and Dave's cousin Joe is establishing himself as one of the bright, young quarterbacks in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens.

Joe, a 2003 Audubon graduate, is the oldest of six Flaccos, who also include brothers Mike, John and Tom and sister Stephanie. Mike, who graduated from Gateway, is in the Baltimore Orioles' minor-league system. John Flacco is a freshman walk-on for Stanford's football team. Stephanie is a pharmacy student at Rutgers, and Tom is a freshman quarterback at Camden Catholic.

This will be the final game in which the two Flacco families will see a son against a nephew in this Audubon-Haddon Township rivalry.

Thursday will be the final time a Flacco will suit up for Audubon, although Brian's mother, Karen, and her husband, Steve, will enjoy the next three years of the Camden Catholic-Paul VI rivalry, watching Tom at quarterback.

"We've been going to Audubon football games with a vested interest since 2000," said Karen Flacco, referring to Joe Flacco's sophomore year. "It's kind of sad to see this ending."

Actually, next season, she and Steve could be changing their allegiance because their nephew Jimmy Madden is a junior wide receiver/defensive back for Haddon Township.

She concedes that not seeing her sons play for Audubon will seem strange.

And the two Flacco seniors will certainly savor their final time on the field. As with many seniors, they are thinking only of the moment and haven't dwelled too much about the emotions that will tug away at them during their final high school football game.

"I haven't thought about it much," Dave Flacco said. "Right now, I'm just looking at trying to win the game."

Brian Flacco, a fourth-year varsity member, has the same sort of tunnel vision.

"I'm more concerned with what goes on the field," he said. "Winning this game my senior year is a big deal."

It's big on a few fronts. Audubon is 4-5 and attempting to finish 5-5 for the second consecutive year. The last time the Green Wave had consecutive .500-or-better seasons was from 1981 through 1985.

Haddon Township is 2-7, but the Hawks have won two of their last three games.

"Nothing would be better than to end with a win," Dave Flacco said.

While the players are focused solely on earning a victory, their parents have a different outlook.

"I am having a hard time realizing that this is one son's last game," said Dave Flacco, father of Dave and himself a former Haddon Township standout.

The elder Flacco plans to sit with his brother Steve (Brian's father) and their family at the game. Steve Flacco was also a star at Haddon Township, where Karen Flacco also attended.

"It surprises us when people ask us who we are rooting for," Karen Flacco said. "I know we went to Haddon Township, but our son is playing at Audubon."

Both Brian and Dave Flacco also play baseball, and each has indicated an interest in playing football or baseball in college.

Any type of recruiting can wait until after the football season. Both have been so focused on the season.

Brian helped Audubon earn a berth in the South Jersey Group 1 playoffs, in which the Green Wave provided a major scare in a first-round, 27-25 loss to then-unbeaten Pennsville.

Haddon Township has competed favorably after a difficult early-season schedule.

Each of the cousins has predicted to the other that his own team will be celebrating a Thanksgiving win. Regardless of the outcome, the two along with their families will celebrate the holiday together.

Nothing, including a crunching hit, can draw them apart. And there's no doubt that both families won't forget Thursday's game, in which the cousins will square off, one final time reliving a sibling rivalry that they wish would never end.