Triton's Keller picks Lehigh; Haddonfield's Bhaya heads for Holy Cross

Triton senior Brian Keller committed to Lehigh University and Haddonfield senior Matt Bhaya committed to Holy Cross in football developments on Monday.

In addition, Haddonfield senior Alex Walter has committed to Princeton for football, according to Haddonfield coach Frank DeLano.

Keller, an all-South Jersey defensive end who also played quarterback for the 8-3 Mustangs last season, said he chose Lehigh over Lafayette. He also visited Holy Cross and Colgate.

"I just felt like Lehigh was right for me," Keller said. "They have a really good engineering program, and they won championships, and I really liked the coaches."

The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Keller led the Mustangs to one of the best football seasons in recent program history. Triton's three losses were to South Jersey Group 4 champion Pennsauken (twice) and South Jersey Group 3 champion Timber Creek, teams with a combined 23-1 record.

Triton also qualified for the South Jersey Group 4 tournament and knocked off No. 4 seed Southern before falling to top-seeded Pennsauken in the sectional semifinals.

As a quarterback, Keller was a bruising runner who gained 779 yards and scored nine touchdowns. He also passed for 558 yards and six touchdowns.

On defense, Keller had 58 and nine sacks.

Keller said he would likely play offense for Lehigh.

"They're going to give me a shot at quarterback, and if that doesn't work out, I'll switch to tight end," Keller said.

Bhaya was recruited to Holy Cross as an outside linebacker but "could end up anywhere," according to DeLano.

Bhaya was a second-team all-South Jersey selection as an all-purpose player. He helped Haddonfield to an 11-1 record and the South Jersey Group 2 title game.

"The first thing for me was to make sure I went to a school with good academics, and they have that," said Bhaya, who likely will major in economics. "They play a great brand of football, and as soon as I stepped on the campus, I fell in love with it."

Bhaya visited Holy Cross last weekend. He also visited Johns Hopkins.

Bhaya led the Bulldogs in tackles with 64 and in sacks with seven. He caught 22 passes for 497 yards and four touchdowns, ran for 196 yards, and averaged 25 yards on eight punt returns. He also kicked 51 extra points and four field goals.

Walter was recruited to Princeton as a tight end, according to DeLano. Walter caught 13 passes for 232 yards and three touchdowns last season and also made 53 tackles as a defensive lineman.