By Jim Hintelmann
RUMSON – While Rumson-Fair Haven Regional is a great academic high school at the Shore, the Bulldogs are also among the best in football and basketball. And one of their better players is 6-foot-2 senior Ian O’Connor who finished a stellar three-year varsity career in both sports.
O’Connor, who will play football at Lehigh University, played tight end and wide receiver at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional; the team went 10-2 last fall and has won five NJSIAA sectional titles in the past six years.
“We had a real great team but we expected to have a good season,” said O’Connor, who caught 35 passes for 465 yards and eight touchdowns. “We had a really good senior group that put in a lot of work in the weight room and on the field last summer.”
Rumson came close to a perfect 12-0 record, losing 14-13 to unbeaten Red Bank Catholic on a blocked extra point and 14-7 to Middletown South when top scorer Alex Maldjian missed much of the game with an injured ankle.
The RBC game was a classic and played before a standing-room-only crowd of 5,000 spectators at Rumson. The deciding play came in the third quarter as Jaden Key blocked an extra point to preserve the lead.
“It wasn’t a defensive breakdown,” said O’Connor. “Key just got around our wing and made a great block.”
Rumson rebounded from the losses to defeat Somerville 42-35 to win the Sectional Group III Championship, avenging a loss to the Pioneers from last year. Then Rumson topped Woodrow Wilson 26-18 at MetLife Stadium in the bowl game.
“Woodrow Wilson was our best game,” said O’Connor. “They had a real good season and we had to play our best because the seniors did not want to go out with a loss.”
O’Connor closed out a solid basketball career averaging 23 points per game and was the top rebounder in helping an inexperienced Rumson team to an 18-8 record.
The highlight of the season was O’Connor scoring his 1,000th career point against Middletown North in January in the Hoop Group Boardwalk Classic at Brookdale with a 3-point shot.
O’Connor also led the team in charges with 117 for his career. “Coach (Chris) Champeau did a good job of teaching it to us,” said
O’Connor. “It really benefitted us, I just had to get in front of the dribbler and draw the foul.”
“O’Connor is the toughest player that I have ever coached,” said Champeau. “He is an outstanding player and defender.”
O’Connor had a good football season as a junior, grabbing 34 passes for 484 yards and four touchdowns as Rumson went 10-2. But his best game was in a 31-28 overtime loss to Saint John Vianney at Rutgers.
“At that time I wasn’t playing that well,” O’Connor admitted. “But I made 12 catches for 147 yards. I felt that I was in a good groove but we lost the game.”
The season ended with a 20-15 loss to Somerville in the sectional finals, but the Bulldogs avenged that setback last fall.
“Ian is an outstanding athlete and very intelligent,” said Rumson football coach Jerry Schulte. “He knows his assignments and is very focused. Whatever he needs to do, he does it very well.”
O’Connor had a good sophomore season in basketball as Rumson finished 26-3. It was this year that he had his career-high game with 35 points against Middletown South.
“I must have hit 14-of-15 shots in that game, everything went in and we won the game,” said O’Connor.
O’Connor also excelled in the classroom, making the honor roll every semester and never going under a “B” average. “French was my favorite subject,” he said. “I also did a lot of community service and leadership. I’m proud of that.”
After a visit to the campus, O’Connor had no trouble selecting Lehigh for post-high school activities.
“It was an easy decision for me because it has good academics and a good football program and they play in the Patriot League. It also reminded me of Rumson at home,” he said. “I hope to play tight end and they use me in different ways. I’ll major in business.
Although I’m taking business, I want to keep involved in sports, because it means a lot to me.”
“I had a great time at Rumson. We’re a close-knit group,” he said. “I made a lot of friends. The teachers were always ready to help me if necessary.”
“I didn’t play football until I entered high school,” he said. “Coach Schulte took me under his wing and taught me how to play the game the right way. He was like a father figure to me.”
