H.S. football: Haddonfield's big day spoils coaching debut for Paulsboro's Harvey

PAULSBORO – Declan McCarthy and the rest of the Haddonfield Memorial High School football team came to town and spoiled a much-anticipated debut for a Paulsboro legend.

The junior quarterback fired four first-half touchdowns and ran for a fifth in the second half as the Haddons posted a 44-26 win over the Raiders in Kevin Harvey’s first game as head coach on a warm Saturday afternoon.

While he was basking in the glow of a season-opening win, McCarthy knows what disappointment feels like. The 6-foot-2, 230-pounder competed for a starting spot last fall, but the job went to Carson Wolff, who guided the Haddons to a 10-3 record, a sectional title and a great performance in the South/Central Group 2 regional final.

McCarthy certainly looked like a different player under center this time around. He displayed the poise of a veteran, zipping the ball all over the field, showing off his arm strength with several deep balls and his accuracy, completing 16-of-19 passes for 251 yards.

Haddonfield head coach Frank DeLano wasn’t surprised at McCarthy’s fast start.

“He’s prepared for the moment,” DeLano said. “Last year was a tough dynamic. He had to make a choice to make after that moment, and Caron (Wolff) was the best guy for the team we had. … (McCarthy) handled it with maturity.

“He’s been in our midget program since he was 6. I didn’t think the stage would be too big for him. He just wants to win. He’s a tremendous kid.”

One with a rifle for a right arm.

McCarthy’s completed several tough throws, none bigger than a second-quarter TD toss to Matt Zappetti. McCarthy threaded a ball between two defenders while Zappetti made a great catch on the play for the score.

“I’ve definitely matured since (last year,” said McCarthy, who completed 9-of-32 passes for 138 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions last season according to MaxPrep’s stats. “I spent a lot of time in the weight room and conditioning. I wanted to better myself - accuracy, throwing, everything.”

Rough debut

Kevin Harvey experienced just one loss as a standout player at Paulsboro. One of South Jersey’s most electrifying players, the Raiders went 43-1 with Harvey from 1992-95.

After 14 years as an assistant coach under another Paulsboro legend Glenn Howard, Harvey was eager to put his own stamp on the program.

The first step was a tough one, but it was how that step was taken that hurt the most for Harvey.

“We have to fix ourselves,” Harvey said. “If we don’t give them stuff and we make them earn it, I’m cool with that. But we didn’t execute. We didn’t do our job and that falls on me.

“It’s OK, it’s my first one. … I’ll hear all they naysayers, but I know we’re a good team and we can be a great team. We just have to cut out the mistakes.”

The 44 points were the most Paulsboro had allowed since 2016, when West Deptford pinned a 55-27 loss on the Raiders. According to local football historian Chuck Langerman, the 70 combined points are the highest total for a single game since the rivalry started in 1949. Paulsboro still leads the series, 36-27-4.

Senior Rocco Pellegrini said the players don’t want to let the new coach down or for him to lose confidence in them.

“I’ve got to be better, we all have to be better, this isn’t what we wanted,” said the quarterback, who threw for three TDs. “You don’t want to go out and play like this on our home field.

“We have to put the work in. Maybe we needed this so we can work on what we need to and be able to fix it.”

Three things we learned

∎ Haddonfield’s offense has the chance to be pretty potent. The Haddons accumulated 392 yards of total offense and posted 44 points – a total they hadn’t reached in 25 games dating back to 2019.

The team had five different ball carriers and McCarthy spread the ball to six different receivers.

∎ Haddonfield’s Charlie Klaus and Paulsboro’s Preston Moore are two talented players who are tough as nails. Klaus led the Haddons in rushing with 51 yards, caught two passes for 18 more yards and was swarming around the ball on defense.

Moore caught three touchdown passes, had 96 yards receiving and delivered several big hits on defense.

∎ Paulsboro can’t waste any time thinking about the season-opening loss. The Raiders have road games against sectional finalists Woodstown and Woodbury the next two weeks with rival West Deptford, Penns Grove, Salem and Camden looming the following three weeks.

Game balls

Haddonfield lineback Patrick Ryan pounced on a pair of fumbles for the Haddons, which had three takeaways in the game.

Paulsboro’s Sharif Green picked off a pass and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the first half, cutting the deficit to 27-14.

They said it

“You can’t win them all, but you want to,” Harvey said.

Tom McGurk is a regional sports editor for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Haddonfield's big day spoils coaching debut for Paulsboro's Harvey