By BRIAN TORTELLA

Correspondent

On X @tortreports

HADDON TOWNSHIP — Before Saturday, it had been many years since rivals Haddon Township High and Collingswood shared the same field.

The last time they went head-to-head was Oct. 30, 2015.

Fast forward 3,256 days.

It wasn’t pretty by any means, literally, as Haddon Township carved out a 20-14 victory over Collingswood in the drizzling rain and mud on Saturday morning.

The last time Haddon Township knocked off Collingswood was in 2012. In that 2015 meeting the Hawks suffered a 54-3 blowout loss.

How the tables have turned.

“My heart rate is definitely up, I can tell you that,” said Haddon Township coach Zac Dayton. “What I’ve been preaching to this team is what just happened, which is that we don’t give up. That’s our agenda right now, we find ways to win.”

The Hawks improved to 3-1, rebounding after a tough road loss at Pitman last Friday.

A huge momentum booster for Haddon Township came with trailing 8-6 in the third quarter. Sophomore quarterback Shane Alessi fought off what looked like a surefire sack deep in his own territory and hit Luke Charlton, who tipped-toed down the sideline for an 86-yard touchdown.

“I think it’s adrenaline, honestly, going out there and making a play for my team,” Alessi said. “See the linebacker coming, take the hit off, set my feet and throw a great ball. I let my playmaker (Charlton) get the ball and go make a play in space. That’s what it’s going to come down to. He’s a great leader, that’s our senior captain, and he worked his tail off all off-season. He’s going to continue to make plays, and that’s a great play.”

According to Charlton, the play was designed for him to make the reception in the flat for a quick catch and gain, but once he realized Alessi was under pressure, plans changed.

“That play was supposed to be me going out to the flat for a little quick catch,” the senior tight end said. “I saw he was under pressure, and the guy guarding me went for him. I just turned up the field and Shane saw me, wide open. He took a hit, but what a great throw he had, and I just took it and ran.”

Collingswood (2-3, 1-2 West Jersey Football League Patriot) evened the score up at 14 with 3:34 left in the fourth quarter when senior Yon Anderson came down with a 16-yard catch in the end zone that easily could’ve been called an interception.

The final minutes of the game were filled with turnovers. Haddon Township (3-1, 2-1 WJFL Royal) fumbled a snap at Collingswood’s 2-yard line with 1:28 remaining in regulation, and Collingswood fumbled it right back 20 seconds later to give the Hawks prime field position back. 

Jaden Haltiwanger ran for the game-winning touchdown with 1:08 left and sealed the game with an interception with 30 seconds remaining.

Click this link to watch the full post-game video interview: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAd_yJSxcpa/?igsh=MWkzemNxZGRicWlkMw==

Collingswood dropped to 2-3 after winning its first two games of the season. 

“It’s the game of football,” Panthers coach Mike McKeown said. “You can’t make that many mistakes and expect to win a football game. It doesn’t matter how good you are, they made more plays than us when they needed to. Hats off to those guys.”

“To be honest with you, I was actually going to call a pass play on that play (the fumble). I should’ve probably did it, but hindsight is 20/20. I was trying to get a couple more yards so we could punt — third down, maybe take a shot. We make too many mistakes as a football team. That falls on coaching, me and my staff. We can’t make that many mistakes in a rivalry game and expect to win.”

Terrance Goffney scored the first touchdown for Collingswood.

WHAT’S NEXT: Haddon Township hosts Mastery Camden on Oct. 12, time TBD. Collingswood hosts Sterling on Friday at 6 p.m. 

Contact Brian Tortella: btortreportssj@gmail.com