LCMR’s memorable football season ends in semifinals of sectional playoffs
HADDONFIELD — Haddonfield High School ended Lower Cape May Regional’s historic football season Friday night in the semifinals of the South Jersey Group II sectional tournament.
In spite of a blazing start and some big kickoff returns, the Caper Tigers could not stop the Bulldogs, falling 28-13 on the road.
It was an impressive season for LCMR under new head coach Bill Damiana, rebounding from a 2-8 record the year before. The Caper Tigers won eight games, including their first-ever playoff win when they beat Gloucester 34-13 the week before at home.
The 8-3 team went undefeated at 5-0 in the Liberty Division of the West Jersey Football League.
Senior Jonathan Fernandez, who scored the first touchdown of the game, was emotional about the loss that wrapped up his high school football career, but proud of what his team accomplished this season.
“Last year we were 2-8 and we came into the year knowing that we were going to turn the program around. No one believed in us,” he said, “but as long as we believed in ourselves, we knew we had it. We made school history.”
He said he is going to take away some good memories in spite of Friday night’s loss.
“This just made my whole entire senior year great,” he said.
LCMR got on the scoreboard first thanks to two plays by junior Ryan Mallon.
He took the opening kickoff some 80 yards, racing through heavy traffic before being caught near the 15-yard line. Three plays later, quarterback David Douglas gave him the ball and Mallon ran right before throwing a 13-yard pass to Fernandez, who made a leaping catch in the end zone for the touchdown. Teammate Britton Walls kicked the extra point for the 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.
Haddonfield responded with a long drive, mixing passes and runs in a controlled march down the field, culminating in a 2-yard touchdown run by Brody Leonard to tie the game 7-7 at the 6:40 mark of the first quarter.
After the two touchdowns, it was a defensive stalemate as the teams traded drives well into the second quarter before Leonard scored again on a 15-yard pass from quarterback Van Lefakis to take a 14-7 lead with 3:38 left in the half.
This time it was sophomore Ashton Ray’s turn for a big kick return. The Bulldogs kicked short, away from Mallon, but Ray fielded it at the 25-yard line and raced down to about the 13.
The Caper Tigers got down to the one-yard-line before a penalty pushed them back 5. Douglas threw to the end zone, but Bulldog James Farrell intercepted and was tackled there by Cole Sederland.
The half ended with Haddonfield up 14-7.
The second half began with more three-and-outs by both teams before the Bulldogs put on a sustained drive capped by a 12-yard touchdown run by Leonard with 6:05 to go in the third.
With the Bulldogs leading 21-7, Ray had another huge kick return to put the Caper Tigers in good position, but they weren’t able to capitalize.
In the fourth quarter, LCMR put together a long drive, sparked by a big pass from Douglas to Fernandez. Mallon scored on a two-yard run behind his offensive line that pushed their way into the end zone.
Although there was 8 minutes left in the game, Haddonfield engineered a long drive on the ground that chewed up the clock and saw Bulldog Mike Keenan scoring a 6-yard touchdown. With the kick, it was 28-13 with 2:26 left.
The Caper Tigers, on their final drive, tried a series of passes, but that ended with an interception. The Bulldogs took a knee to run out the clock.
“I thought that we had a pretty good game plan coming in. We just didn’t execute very well. We knew that Haddonfield was not going to make mistakes and they didn’t make very many,” Damiana said. “We were penalized in areas that we shouldn’t have been penalized in and we just couldn’t put a couple of things together, like we didn’t get a first down until late.”
“Our special teams had a great game. Our kick returns were fantastic and the defense made a lot of stops,” the coach said. “We had a couple turnovers, but for whatever reason, we just couldn’t get the momentum going our way tonight. And credit to them. They forced that.”
“It’s been a great year,” Douglas, the junior quarterback, said. “It’s been a pleasure, especially with all my seniors and my coaches.
“Next year is going to be different. I don’t see us losing next year. I see us winning it all.”
“We made a good amount of good plays of the game, but we just didn’t have enough. And I feel like that’s on me to be a better leader, and I need to push our teammates harder,” Douglas said.
“I was locked in all day,” Mallon said. Talking about that opening kickoff, he added, “I really just trusted my team. We’ve been going over it all in practice all week, and boom, the lane opened up and I took it.”
“I’m really very happy,” Mallon said about the season. “I feel like we accomplished way more than we were supposed to and we made history, so I can’t really be sad about that.”
Ray said when he got the ball on his second kickoff return, he saw all the Bulldog players “crashing down on the side,” he got a few blocks, stiff-armed a defender and made a huge gain.
On his first return, he said he went right up the middle, following his blockers.
He is proud of the season.
“We made history this year with a first win in state playoffs,” Ray said. “I’m very happy we made it. We turned our season around from 2-8 with the new coaching staff this year and now we’re 8-3. Overall it was a very good season for us.”
Noting the fact the Caper Tigers are returning some experienced players in 2026, he said, “I feel we’re going to be in the same position next year, even better.”
“I feel very proud of what the players really did this year. I thank the seniors that put all their trust in me. And when you take a program over, it’s hard to get the buy-in and all the kids bought in,” Damiana said. “For the younger guys, it was great for them to get here. We got a lot of young guys that got to play tonight, a lot of juniors and sophomores, even some freshmen, so they get a taste of what it’s like to be here because eventually we want to be what that is on the other side, right?
“We did it in wrestling, we’re going to do it in football, so just be patient,” Damiana said. He doubles as the wrestling coach.
2025 season
The Caper Tigers opened the season with a 35-14 win over Pinelands Regional on the road in late August. The following week, they lost to Gloucester 28-7, then put together four straight wins.
They beat Middle Township 42-0, Absegami 33-7, St. Joseph of Hammonton 31-19 and Egg Harbor Township 34-6.
LCMR took a 42-0 shellacking from Cedar Creek, a Group III team with a 9-2 record that is playing for that sectional crown Saturday against Mainland Regional.
After that, however, the team won three more games in a row, beating Cumberland 13-7, Oakcrest 28-20 and then got revenge on Gloucester in the opening round of the Group II sectional, beating them 34-13 for the first playoff win in the program’s 104-year history.
By DAVID NAHAN/Cape May Star and Wave
