Ciemniecki Leads Haddonfield Over Lindenwold

Dan Ciemniecki picked up where he left off last week.

The senior, two-way player threw touchdowns on the only two passes he attempted, ran for a touchdown and returned an interception for another as the undefeated Haddonfield Bulldawgs won their sixth straight, thumping Lindenwold, 44-0, in a Colonial Conference inter-divisional football game.

Ciemniecki’s effort, which was accomplished on just a quarter and a half, came on the heels of his outstanding performance against Sterling nine days ago when he threw two touchdown passes, caught one and ran for another.

“We started throwing the ball a little more to the wide outs and the tight end,” Haddonfield head coach Frank DeLano said after the game.  “We think Danny has a lot of talent. He has a lot of confidence coming off of last week’s game. We wanted to take advantage of that and we don’t want to be known as a one-dimensional team.”

Lindenwold attempted an on-sides kick but Haddonfield recovered on its own 47 yard line on the opening kickoff.  Ciemniecki dropped back to pass on first down. He pump-faked and drew the cornerbacks up, then floated a pass deep that Matt Bhaya leaped and caught and ran in for the touchdown. It took 17 seconds for the Bulldawgs to go up 7-0.

They were up 14-0 before the game was a minute old. After Haddonfield recovered a fumble on the Lindenwold 27-yard-line, Ciemniecki found Alex Walter alone crossing over the middle and hit the big tight end for the touchdown.

“On the first play we wanted to get the ball to the wide receivers,” Ciemniecki said. “It was a simple hitch and go. We got the cornerback to bite and I got the ball to Matt and he made a great catch. On the second, Alex was wide open.”

The Bulldawgs went to the ground attack on their next possession.  The Bulldogs speedy halfback Chris Dengler scored on a 40-yard run to make it 21-0, after Lindenwold ran three plays and punted. It quickly became 28- 0 on Dengler's 14-yard run.

The first quarter ended with the score 35-0 when Ciemniecki faked a handoff and carried around left end 35 yards for a touchdown.

It was another superb first quarter by the Bulldawgs who substituted freely throughout the remaining three quarters, but never let up on the intensity. The one time Lindenwold was able to drive deep into Haddonfield territory, Mike McLaughlin picked off a Malik Muldrow pass at the goal line.

“Every week is a new opponent and our coaches teach us not to overlook anyone.” Walter said.  “Every week we get amped up for Friday night. We compete against each other in practice to prepare for the next opponent. We all love football. We work hard in practice to make each other better.”

The Bulldawgs scored again in the second quarter when Ciemniecki intercepted a ball at midfield and weaved his way through the defense for a 42-0. The play capped an outstanding day for Ciemniecki.

“Last week was pretty good,” Ciemniecki said. "But today was a pretty special day.”

Lindenwold           0     0     0     0     -     0

Haddonfield          35    7    2     0     -     44

H – Matthew Bhaya 53, pass from Dan Ciemniecki (Bhaya kick)

H – Alex Walter 27, pass from Ciemniecki (Bhaya kick)

H – Chris Dengler 40, run (Bhaya kick)

H – Dengler 14, run (Bhaya kick)

H – Ciemniecki 35, run  (Bhaya kick)

H – Ciemniecki 40, interception return (Bhaya kick)

H – Safety