When it comes to ‘Turkey Bowl,’ UD’s Ruffenach has story to tell
From the first meeting with his doctor, Eric Ruffenach got the only glimmer of hope he needed.
The year was 2001. Ruffenach, then a senior at Upper Darby, broke his kneecap in the second scrimmage against St. Joseph’s Prep in late August. He went under the knife that day, and after three surgical screws were inserted into his tibia, his first post-operative conversation with his surgeon offered the optimism he was looking for.
“I got out of surgery and I remember talking to the doctor about how long the recovery was, and it kind of timed up toward November,” Ruffenach said. “He said, ‘Listen, if your rehab goes well …,’ and I took that advice and pushed myself through the rehab as hard as I could.”
The light at the end of the injury tunnel was the Royals’ Thanksgiving game against Haverford. Before he’d left the recovery ward, Ruffenach resolved to do whatever it took to get on the field that day.
Seventeen years on, Ruffenach doesn’t use his personal journey as a teaching tool much as Upper Darby’s offensive coordinator. But his “Turkey Bowl” experience – catching seven passes for 86 yards and the offensive MVP award in keying a 14-point comeback for a 27-17 Upper Darby win – speaks volumes about what the rivalry means.
And if you don’t believe him, ask the coach on the opposite sideline that day.
“(Ruffenach) was hurt for a lot of the time, missed a bunch of games,” Haverford coach Joe Gallagher said with a wry smile. “And I had no idea that he was going to play. Solidly, there was no way he could make it back for this game. And he shows up, fully dressed. He made a crazy acrobatic catch in the corner of that end zone where the scoreboard is to win the game.”
Even if Ruffenach doesn’t tell it often to his players, it’s quite the journey. He didn’t miss a practice all season, so when he was cleared Wednesday morning for contact in practice the afternoon before the game, he got up to speed quickly. It didn’t hurt that the Royals were 9-3 that year, coach Rich Gentile deploying a Wing-T attack with a passing component that wasn’t schematically complex. Plus, Ruffenach – who had never lined up as a wideout after playing as a running back/defensive back – had an ally in the backfield.
“I remember being really out of shape,” he said. “I wasn’t in football shape, that’s for sure. But they threw a lot of balls my way. … I think I had two or three drops, too. Coach Gentile definitely called my number a lot, and my quarterback, Brian Strunk, we were tight. And I remember telling Brian, ‘Hey, just throw me the ball.’ We tried to connect as much as possible.”
Ruffenach’s situation is the polar opposite of what Haverford has experienced in recent years under center. For the third straight Thanksgiving, Gallagher will have quarterback Jake Ruane taking snaps. The only QB that Gallagher has seen start three straight Thanksgiving games is the player Ruane followed in the quarterback lineage, whose career passing yards record Ruane topped this year: Jack Donaghy.
“It’s really cool,” Ruane said. “For both communities, this game is really awesome. To be a part of it three years in a row is pretty special.”
“It’s very unique,” Gallagher said. “Even some of the greatest guys we’ve had here have never done it . ... Him and Jack, that’s a rare occurrence.”
Ruane’s introduction to the rivalry happened on the bench as a freshman, watching Donaghy duke it out with Upper Darby All-Delco running back Isaiah Bruce in a 49-42 classic at A.G. Cornog Field, a performance that propelled Donaghy to be named 2015 Daily Times Football Player of the Year.
“I’d never seen this place as packed as it was that day,” Ruane said. “It was ridiculous. And the game itself was unbelievable.”
Between the two coaching staffs, by Gallagher and Ruffenach’s count, there will be 17 alums of the game working the sidelines Thursday. The wealth of experience is so great that Gallagher, the St. James grad, often defers to his assistants in matters of emotional importance surrounding the game, and that transmission of culture from generation to generation helps keep the rivalry so strong.
“It’s part of our program,” Gallagher said. “… They’ve all played in this game. It just adds to it, and it adds to it for our kids, too, because they sense that. They get it from the coaches how important it is. I’ve been here 27 years and I probably don’t have the same feeling as my coaches do because I didn’t play in this game.”
Ruffenach knows the challenge is a little different for the Royals. Many of his players are first-generation attendees of Upper Darby, many new to the game and certainly to the Thanksgiving football tradition. So while he might not use his story to directly convey the emotional resonance of the neighborhood rivalry, it does inform the value he places on it.
“This week and the weeks building up to this, we stressed that we’re here for these guys,” Ruffenach said. “At the dinners, we talk about what we’re thankful for and things like that. …
“The coaches will wear their letterman’s (jackets) this week or they’ll see alumni coming back or they’ll see our involvement with the alumni hall of fame. So the kids do get that little history lesson on the program, and you start to see it a little bit, throughout the year, kids realize the tradition that’s part of this game.”