Nick Buley

12/4/13
Sports Reporting
Keep Your Head in the Game

Sweat covered the hands of freshman for Lehigh University, Jeff Heiner, as he
lined up for a putt on the first hole at Copperhead Golf Club in Lehigh, PA. Lehigh
University was taking on crosstown rival Lafayette University to kick off the 2010 golf
season. Trying to save par, Heiner lined up his shot, swayed back his club and
connected with fury as the ball dropped right in the hole. Heiner threw his fist in the air
and pointed to the sky as if he had just won the U.S. Open, while the three people in the
crowd gave him a nice little golfers clap. Although meaningless on the surface, for
Heiner, it goes much deeper than a simple par.
It all started on a freezing cold November night. The snow was falling, the wind
was at a full force and everyone was staying inside, cuddled up next to a fire. That!s
everyone except the people of Basking Ridge, NJ. It was rivalry week for Ridge High
School!s football team and they were taking on long time rival Immaculata High School.
Immaculata has historically dominated Ridge, having won the past 12 years. However,
with an undefeated season and the best roster that has been put together in years,
Ridge knew it was their time.
With a lot riding on this game, Ridge felt that they needed all the help they could
get. They decided to call up the captain of the junior varsity team, junior linebacker Jeff
Heiner, to come in and be a role player.
We didn!t expect much from him, said Ridge head coach Don Piliponi. We just
needed some extra pure tacklers and thought he would help on special teams or when
players needed a rest.
Heiner remembers being pumped up. Football is his favorite sport and to be part
of such an important game at a young age meant so much to him. During the week
leading up to the game he spent hours at a time in the film room, spent extra time in the
weight room and he would even run all six miles home from practice.


He was dedicated, said younger brother Greg Heiner. He loved football and
wanted to be ready for the game.
As hours got closer to game time, the drunk high school students piled into the
stands wearing nothing but paint and beer coats in the 20 degree weather. They were
reckless, trying to fight the opposing fans the entire game. The crowd was so loud that
one town member remembers the day exactly.
I didn!t go to the game but I felt like I was there, said town member Alex
Armstrong. I live a few miles away and I could hear the crowd from inside my house. It
was pretty crazy.
However, inside the locker room was a different scene. Heiner remembers the
locker room being in dead silence. He was just sitting there trying to get pumped up.
That was until the coach came in with his normal pre-game speech.
I!ll never forget that speech, said Heiner. He kept talking about seizing the
moment and how to not let obstacles get in your way, on the football field and in life. It
really resonated with me.
At the end of the speech the locker room erupted and they ran out on the field
ready for the game of their lives. The game was a game of ground and pound and hard
hitting. Immaculata had a top recruited running back, John Mack, who had already
committed to Notre Dame. Tackling him was going be the key to victory for Ridge.
The game was getting out of hand as Ridge was down 14 going into the fourth
quarter and Mack had ran for well over a hundred yards and two touchdowns already.
Piliponi remembers thinking he had to do something to stop him. He made a
decision that he would remember to this day. He put in 6-foot-3, 180 pound, Jeff Heiner
to try to stop John Mack from getting into the end zone.
I was so pumped that I ran into the huddle and when I heard the play I drew a
blank of what I was supposed to do, said Heiner. After a few plays I calmed down and
started to get into the swing of things.
That was until a third and one when Immaculata made their way to the line of
scrimmage. Hut-Hut-Hike yelled the quarterback and he handed the ball off to Mack as
he ran right up the gut. Heiner had a clear tackle on him so he lowered his head and


boom, helmet-to-helmet contact brought Mack to the ground, holding them to a fourth
down.
That was the last thing I remembered, said Heiner.
Heiner had gotten hit in the head so hard that he didn!t know where he was. That
didn!t stop him from staying in the game. But the next play he didn!t know what to do.
I remember him lining up in completely the wrong position, said Piliponi. I was
yelling at him from the sideline but he wasn!t listening.
Immaculata decided to go for it on fourth down. Heiner lined up on the line and
there was a big pile up that Heiner happened end up at the bottom of. The crowd went
crazy when the ref pointed in Ridge!s direction as they stopped them on fourth down.
The players started to jump up from the pile out of excitement.
Everyone, except Heiner.
I remember looking out on the field and seeing my son just lying there, not
moving, said Heiner!s mother Karen Heiner. My heart dropped and I just ran down to
the field.
The once rowdy crowd was dead silent as they saw their fallen classmate lying
on the field, helpless.
He was unconscious and unresponsive on the field, said Philiponi.
Heiner was rushed to the hospital and was unconscious upon arrival. After hours
of pure agony for his family and friends, there were signs of life.
I remember just waking up, looking around and wondering where I was, said
Heiner. I was terrified to see I was in a hospital but eventually I saw my family rush to
my side, which calmed me down a tad.
Heiner had experienced a traumatic brain injury that resulted in bruising of the
brain tissue which caused bleeding inside the brain.
The doctors said because of the severity of Heiner!s injury, he would not be
allowed to play contact sports anymore. This did not sit well with Heiner.
Sports is my passion, said Heiner. I grew up playing football, hockey and
Lacrosse. All of which are contact sports and all of which I absolutely love playing. I
didn!t know what to do with myself.


To keep himself occupied and to keep his mind off of the fact he can!t play sports
anymore, Heiner decided to concentrate on his rehab and getting back to his old self.
After months of recovery and rigorous therapy sessions, Heiner was at top
physical form. But, that wasn!t enough. Ben!s father, Jeff Heiner Sr., could see he
missed being competitive and playing sports regularly.
The doctor said he couldn!t play any contact sports so I decided to bring him to a
non-contact sport, golf, said Jeff Heiner Sr.
Heiner had played golf his whole life but it always took a backseat to his other
sports. Now that he couldn!t play those sports, he realized there was something to this
game.
After playing that day with my dad I knew that golf would be my new sport, said
Heiner.
Heiner knew it wouldn!t be easy. He would go to the driving range everyday after
school and play every weekend with his dad and brothers.
He knew that to be able to be good at this sport he would have to try hard, said
Karen Heiner. That is exactly what he did.
There were no cuts on Ridge!s golf team, so he was able to walk on during his
senior season. He ended the season as one of the best players on his team, however,
he knew he wasn!t going to get any scholarships.
It was always my dream to play a sport in college, but after my injury I thought
that my dream was dead, said Heiner. Until I found golf.
Heiner was accepted to Lehigh University and was planning on attending with the
goal of walking onto the golf team.
With a summer to improve his game even more, he went to the tryouts in the fall
with full confidence. There was tough competition but Heiner felt like he had a serious
shot of earning a spot on the team.
After the tryout, all he could do was wait and see what happened next. It was a
painful process for him but then he got the call. It was Lehigh!s head coach Henry
D!Alberto saying he had made the team.


I remember thinking, It happened. I!m playing a college sport, but now it!s time
to show them what I can do, said Heiner.
All that work was leading up to that first match of the season. After some ups and
downs, Heiner ended the round with a solid 78.
To unwind after a long day on the golf course he, was relaxing in the clubhouse
with a few of his teammates drinking lemonade while looking over his scorecard.
Coach D!Alberto came up to the table to say, Good job out there, Jeff.
Heiner just leaned back in his chair with a wide grin on his face, and out of the
corner of his mouth, he mumbled to himself, you have no Idea.