Delco Football Notebook: Field of Screams forces Bonner & Prendergast to cancel in The Bronx
It’s safe to say that Bonner & Prendergast won’t be returning to New York anytime soon.
Back in May, Friars coach Jack Muldoon had to scramble to find a nonleague game after his Week 3 opponent, St. Mary’s (Md.), cancelled out of the blue. Muldoon found Herbert H. Lehman High School from The Bronx. The Friars raised funds to expense the trip.
Unfortunately, the 2 ½-hour drive was all for naught. Muldoon refused to allow his players to compete on a playing surface whose conditions were hazardous.
“We vetted it out, did our homework, watched their film and saw the field, which looked nice,” Muldoon said. “We chartered a nice bus, got meals for the kids and we were gonna tour Fordham.”
Muldoon received a phone call late last week by the Lehman coaches, informing him that they had to move the time and location of Saturday’s game. The team’s regular home field, an athletic supersite in The Bronx, would be in use. Muldoon was led to believe this second field was in solid shape, but that was far from the truth.
“We drove up Saturday morning but some of our coaches got there, they drove up in cars, and called me up before our bus got there. They said to me that I’m not going to like the conditions of this field, that it’s not good,” Muldoon said. “I got there and I knew there was no way we were going to play at this place, the field was horrendous.”
The turf was in shatters. There were crevices and exposed cement. The end zone was a baseball backstop with a cage not 10 feet outside the field of play.
“I counted about 12 seam issues and two that were ridiculously bad. I said to the coach, ‘You’re going to have guys breaking their ankles and getting seriously hurt here,’” Muldoon said. “I didn’t want to bring the kids out to warm up because our side of the field was the worst. I don’t think I could find 10 yards where I would have felt save. I could put my foot inside the turf, and you could actually pull the turf up to about knee length.”
Lehman coaches seemed bothered by Muldoon’s concerns. His only priority was keeping his players safe. Bonner’s athletic trainer, who traveled with the team, told Muldoon he wasn’t going to risk losing his license.
“Look, if someone took my son and played out there, I would have wanted him to be fired. And if we played that game, then I should have been fired. I said that to the coach. I said, ‘I don’t understand how you’re OK with playing’ and he said, ‘Well, this is all we got.’”
Lehman has an 80-yard grass field on campus that Muldoon was willing to play on. However, Lehman officials balked at the idea due to transportation issues. Wanting his players to get the game in, Muldoon volunteered to bus Lehman players, coaches and fans over to the high school, but Muldoon’s generous idea was shot down.
“The decision to not play was easy because of the conditions,” he said. “I’m most proud of how the kids handled it. I explained to them back in the locker room what the situation was and they were very disappointed not to play, but the kids who came out and looked at the field told the rest of them, ‘We can’t play here, fellas.’
“All of our parents … I told them, you would want for me to be fired. Coaching that game would have been the most nerve-wracking experience of my life.”
Muldoon was upset for his seniors who lost a game through no fault of their own, “and we’re not a team that can afford to lose games,” Muldoon said. The Friars (2-0) return home Friday night to play Neumann & Goretti (3-0).
“We were supposed to have a home-and-home with (Lehman) but I already told them we’re not, that we’re done,” Muldoon said. “I don’t mind traveling, but I guess it’s something you learn from and be extra careful next time.”
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Anton Sterling of Chester was named Del Val League player of the week. The junior running back amassed 144 yards on the ground with two touchdowns to help the Clippers stay undefeated with a 20-0 win over Martin Luther King.
Del Val coaches awarded positional honors to Interboro’s Mike Zane (quarterback); Chester’s Sterling (running back), Malik Langley (wide receiver), Darnell Jones (offensive line), Darron Miller (linebacker) and Malachi Langley (defensive back); Penn Wood’s Christian Suber (defensive line) and Mike Price (defensive back); and Academy Park’s Brian Daniels (special teams).
