Haddon Heights finds unity

Haddon Heights' Dylan Bushby had a lot on his mind in those frantic final moments.

There was Audubon's high-powered offense, driving down the field.

There was the slow and steady pace of the clock.

There was the rapid approach of his own end zone, which kept creeping closer and closer to his back.

But the senior linebacker noticed something else, too. He noticed that all along the sideline, the Haddon Heights team was holding hands, willing the 11 defensive players on the field to perserve a 14-13 lead in a pulse-pounding Colonial Conference clash.

"We didn't have that before," Bushby said. "We weren't really that tight-knit unit that you need to be. We became a tight-knit unit today.

"You could see it on that last drive. You could see the way guys were pulling for each other."

You can put 35 guys in the same-color uniforms and run them out on the field before the opening kickoff, and you can call that a team.

But that's just semantics.

Sometimes, it takes time to forge a team. Sometimes, it takes adversity.

That's what Haddon Heights faced in the fourth quarter, as three face-mask penalties helped push Audubon into position for a dramatic comeback victory.

In the end, Bushby made the game's final tackle and the clock expired before Audubon could snap the football on fourth down.

"That made us a team," Haddon Heights coach Tim George said. "We had the team lock hands on that last drive and we told everybody they had to believe.

"We kept fighting. We kept fighting when we were down 13-0. We kept fighting when we had those penalties. We fought through that.

"That's what this team needed."

It hasn't been a smooth summer for the Garnets, as there was some uncertainty about the make-up of the roster in training camp and the schedule-maker put them in Paulsboro for opening day. Haddon Heights lost that game by a 21-0 score.

On this postcard-perfect afternoon in Audubon's old stadium, the Garnets were losing 13-0 after Green Wave junior Brian Flacco scored his second touchdown on a two-yard run on the first possession of the second half.

It was a key moment in the game, and maybe in the season. But the Garnets got a big play from senior running back Josh Johnson, who took a pitch 67 yards for a touchdown, and the Haddon Heights defense took it from there.

"We blew a couple of assignments earlier in the game," Bushby said. "We knew we could stop them if we just lined up and played."

Audubon's offense is not easy to contain. Senior quarterback Brandon Hill has a big-time arm, and talented receivers in Brian Flacco, John Flacco and Chris Borgesi.

The Green Wave also benefited from those three face-mask penalties in the fourth quarter, two of which were worth 15 yards.

"I couldn't believe it," Bushby said. "We'd stop them, and then there would be a flag."

The flags would even out, as Audubon had an apparent 26-yard touchdown strike from Hill to John Flacco with 0:52 on the clock nullified by a holding penalty.

But what was great was the way both teams kept battling to the end. Audubon's players were devastated when the touchdown was called back, but the Green Wave converted a fourth-and-22 just moments later.

"We had guys on their knees and they got up and still battled," Audubon coach Jon Caputo said.

Haddon Heights defensive players did the same, as their teammates held hands on the sideline and Bushby made that last tackle and the clock finally winked down to 0:00.

"He plays with his heart and soul," George said of Bushby. "He gives you 101 percent even when there's nothing left in the tank."

In the end, the Garnets raced on the field, just like they did before the opening kickoff. In the middle of pile, Bushby knew something was different.

"We came together today as a team," Bushby said.

Contact staff writer Phil Anastasia at 856-779-3223 or panastasia@phillynews.com