S.J. Game of the Week: Murray, Troiani power Haddonfield

"Locker room" is a loose term these days for the home base of the Haddonfield football team.

With their stadium facilities unavailable during a reconstruction project at the school, the Bulldawgs are using an oversize closet to change and prepare for practice. There are no lockers. There are no chairs. There are no hooks on the bare concrete walls.

The metal door that opens to Sylvan Lake Avenue — and swings close to a set of trash bins — identifies the headquarters of South Jersey's 11th-ranked team as a "Storage Room" and warns against unauthorized admission.

Not that the Bulldawgs are bothered by their Spartan surroundings. If anything, Haddonfield's players and coaches have embraced the challenges of odd practice times, weight-lifting in an off-campus gym, sprints in parking lots, barrel rolls on make-shift practice fields, and "home" games on Saturday afternoons at Cherry Hill West.

"It doesn't bother us," Haddonfield senior Will Murray said. "We make the best of it."

Murray and fellow senior two-way lineman Mark Troiani are examples of the program's no-nonsense, no-excuses approach, according to coach Frank DeLano.

"These two guys," DeLano said, pointing to Murray and Troiani, "exemplify what this program is all about. They just work. They work in the weight room, they work in practice and they work in games.

"They don't need to talk. They lead by example."

Murray and Troiani will lead Haddonfield (5-0) into a showdown Friday night with West Deptford (5-0) in a West Jersey Football League Colonial Division clash of arch-rivals and Top 15 teams.

As program veterans, Murray and Troiano readily repeat DeLano's canned company line that this is just "Game 6" and that "what matters is how we play, not who we play."

Still, it's West Deptford and it's a renewal of one of South Jersey's best rivalries. High stakes and fierce familiarity — the teams met twice, once in division play and once in the South Jersey Group 2 tournament, in 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2014 — have combined to create serious competitive tension between the two proud programs.

"This might be the biggest game of my athletic career," said Murray, a 6-foot-1, 225-pound athlete who plays center on offense and tackle on defense. "Senior year against West Deptford playing football. Nothing could be better than this."

The 5-foot-9, 195-pound Troiani, an offensive guard and nose guard, knows his team could see West Deptford again in November or December. Then again, this could be the seniors' last game against their most intense rival.

"Like Coach DeLano says, it's just the next one up," Troiani said. "But that being said, there's a ton of importance in our rivalry with them."

DeLano said the tough, responsible play of seniors such as Murray and Troiani have been the key to Haddonfield's success this season. Despite a rash of injuries that have knocked high-profile players such as Ben Klaus, Davis Smith, Chris Brown and Lance Forebaugh out of action, the Bulldawgs have beaten five opponents by a combined score of 196-33.

Haddonfield is coming off an imposing 31-0 victory over previously undefeated Paulsboro. In that game, Murray registered his first career interception and Troiani spent the afternoon battling with players that outweighed him by 100 pounds.

"He's what, 185, 195 [pounds], and he's going against guys that are over 300," DeLano said of Troiani. "He kept coming to the sideline and saying, 'This is fun.'"
Murray and Troiani believe the team's run of injuries and its disruptive practice and game-day routines are related — both are examples of adversity that has drawn the players closer together.

"We're really close," Troiani said. "Our depth is the reason we've been winning. Everybody knows his role, everybody can step in and perform like we need him to. We all believe in each other, we just have a really tight bond."

Murray said an unusual summer of workouts that led to a strange set-up during the season — including making do with a storage closet as a locker room — has worked in the Bulldawgs' favor.

"We really got close over the summer," Murray said. "Having to lift in a different gym, meeting in different places and doing barrel rolls all over the grass, just everything we went through.

"I believe that built a really tight feel of the team and now we just go out there and have fun."

Haddonfield (5-0) at West Deptford (5-0), Friday at 7.

Rankings: Haddonfield is No. 11 in the Inquirer Top 25 and West Deptford is No. 14.

At stake: Sole possession of first place in the WJFL Colonial Division as well as a boatload of power points to help secure a high seed in the South Jersey Group 2 tournament.

Last year: West Deptford won 48-14.

The series: Since 2009, the teams have played 13 times, with West Deptford holding a 7-6 edge.

The streak: West Deptford has won 17 in a row.

West Deptford players to watch: Junior Kenny Lim has run for 715 yards on 71 carries (10.07-yard average) and scored 10 touchdowns but his status for the game is uncertain because of injury. Senior quarterback Pete Orio is 27-for-41 passing for 418 yards while junior tight end Jason Collier has made 10 catches for 152 yards. Junior linebacker Jake Paratore leads the defense with 45 tackles and four sacks.

Haddonfield players to watch: Junior Gabe Klaus and senior Nick Patrizi lead a balanced rushing attack while junior quarterback Jay Foley directs the offense. Klaus and senior linebacker Will Ciemny are among the leaders on defense.

Key to the game: Both teams like to control the football and clock with a powerful ground game and mix in passes off play-action. What defense can force the opposing offense out of its comfort zone and into long-yardage situations?

Pick: Haddonfield, 23-20.