Haddon Heights coasts to first victory

Before his team's football game against visiting Lindenwold on Saturday, Haddon Heights coach Tim George talked about tradition.

Lindenwold coach Derryk Sellers spoke about survival in the Colonial Conference.

Tradition won, 35-6.

"This is only Game 7 between Lindenwold and Haddon Heights," George said before kickoff. "The series is 4-2 us, and we're excited about that. When you enter a new tradition, maybe the kids will look back on this in 30 years and see where the series is at."

Haddon Heights (1-1) is at a much better place than Lindenwold (0-2), which had 95 yards on offense, 15 of which were in the first half.

"We're young and we're getting there," he said after the game. "We have to improve each play, each quarter, each game, each day, each week, each month."

When Jahlil Self scored the Garnets' final touchdown on a 5-yard run with 7 minutes, 7 seconds remaining in the third period for a 35-0 lead, the official in the press box started a running clock.

The touchdown was Self's second of the game. The senior wide receiver had scored on a 2-yard run with 32.5 seconds left in the first period, and coupled with Jamie DeMartini's extra-point kick, it made the score 13-0.

The running clock lasted about five minutes because the Lions scored against Haddon Heights' defense, which had a few replacements in the lineup.

Junior Jason Hutzler, who displayed great arm strength at times, completed a 27-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Bruce Hicks for Lindenwold's only score.

"It felt pretty good," Hutzler said about the TD pass. "After we executed for a little bit, our line started to get confident. Today was real frustrating. We just didn't execute. We have a lot of young guys on the line, and they have to learn how to play varsity with strength and speed.

"We'll get there."

Haddon Heights quarterback Nick Lundholm was optimistic, too. The 6-foot-2, 160-pounder completed 7 of 8 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown in the first half. He threw only once after intermission.

Lundholm was pleased with his stats, especially since this is his first year as a starting quarterback.

"We did good in the new offense," Lundholm said. "We ran the wing; before, we had the pro set. We executed, and everyone did their job.

"I'm proud of our offensive line and our defense."

Kevin Ali, Troy Manlove, Tony Troppello, and brothers Ryan and Alex Thompson were the ones who bought Lundholm the time he needed to throw to Darius Jones, who caught a 21-yard touchdown pass in the second period to make the score 27-0.

Lindenwold   0 0 6 0 – 6

Haddon Heights   13 14 8 0 – 35

HH: Mike Pitts 2 run (kick failed)

HH: Jahlil Self 2 run (Jamie DeMartini kick)

HH: Phil Azzari 5 run (DeMartini kick)

HH: Darius Jones 21 pass from Nick Lundholm (DeMartini kick)

HH: Safety

HH: Self 5 run (kick failed)

L: Bruce Hicks 27 pass from Jason Hutzler (kick failed)