Audubon football feasts on Haddon Township on Thanksgiving Eve

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HADDON TWP. –  The Curley Cup will spend another year at Audubon High School.

The Green Wave maintained their stranglehold on the trophy and earned another piece of hardware, claiming the SportsRadio 94.1 WIP Turkey Bowl VII award, following a 56-0 rout at Haddon Township on Thanksgiving Eve.

Junior Mike Aversa rushed for four touchdowns and the Green Wave defense swarmed in its second shutout. Audubon completed its season at 4-6 with victories in four of its last six games.

The Green Wave has won 13 straight meetings against rival Haddon Township and padded their overall lead in the series to 44-17-1.

The evening was filled with electricity as Haddon Township debuted its new artificial turf field and lights brought prime-time football to Marvin L. Roberts Memorial Field. Adding to all the hoopla along with Homecoming and Senior Night, the contest was broadcast across the Delaware Valley on 94.1 FM.

“There was so much excitement leading up to this game, we just couldn’t wait to play,” said Aversa, who grew up playing in the Haddon Township youth football league. “It’s always fun to get the chance to verse them and ball out.”

The 5-foot-8, 155-pound Aversa did exactly that as he doubled his season rushing TD total in the game, scoring on runs of 62, 7, 50 and 11 yards. His previous high for rushing yards in a game was 81.

Audubon senior Brayden Beebe, who also played his youth football in Haddon Township, said he never played in front of a bigger crowd than the one that packed the stands on Wednesday.

Beebe will always remember his last scholastic game as he scored his first varsity touchdown on his final carry with a 38-yard run. The only thing he gripped tighter than the football on the TD run was the trophy after the game.

“It was amazing,” Beebe said. “It’s a great tradition. It means a lot to us and I know it means a lot to our coaches, too. It feels great to get the win and the turkey is going to taste really good (Thursday)."

Even a monsoon that swept across the field in the first quarter couldn’t put a damper on the special evening, which included a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the new field for business.

The turf field certainly came in handy in its debut on this rain-soaked night.

Audubon head coach Dan Reed remembers a different playing surface when he played at Haddon Township.

“We played on kitty litter and mud when I played here,” the 2008 Haddon Township graduate said with a laugh. “It’s a really gorgeous field.”

Reed said the whole week leading up to the night was special as both teams were invited to the WIP studio in Philadelphia to promote the big game.

“It was an awesome thing for these guys to experience,” Reed said. “Doing the interviews on WIP was a really cool thing too.

“I’m just happy for our seniors. I couldn’t think of a better ending to their (high school football) careers than tonight. It’s a really special group. Their leadership, they brought it every single day and they led the right way. I hope the younger guys see the right way to do it because they are the ones who are going to have to keep it rolling.”

The seniors made plenty of contributions in their final game.

Aaron Pilla returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown, Jonah Jordan hauled in a 9-yard pass for a TD, lineman Dylan Hoff had a pair of two-point conversion runs and Theo Kalogiros booted three extra points.

Audubon held a 22-0 after one quarter and took a 36-0 lead into the intermission.

“Lets just go out and do our job, lets not complicate things, that’s the way we looked at it.” Jordan said. “We’re just kids playing football. Go out and dominate, that’s what we try to do every time we take the field, but this is definitely a game we always look forward to.”

Haddon Township, a playoff team last fall, finished its season at 2-8. The Hawks had two four-game losing streaks sandwiched around a two-game winning stretch.

Tom McGurk is a regional sports editor for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 35 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him by email at tmcgurk@usatodayco.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Audubon football maintains its domination over Haddon Township in holiday rivalry

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