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2024 Sea Breeze Ford Football Offensive Player of the Year: Rumson-Fair Haven’s Owen O’Toole

Three years ago, Rumson-Fair Haven head coach Jeremy Schulte can remember walking off the field with offensive coordinator John Corneliusen following a preseason scrimmage in which three players were vying to become the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback.

“We looked at each other and were like, ‘Yup, Owen sealed that one,’” Schulte said.

Rumson lost a lopsided scrimmage to perennial state power St. Peter’s Prep that day, but the coaching staff saw the competitive fire in a sophomore quarterback who went on to become one of the most prolific passers in Shore Conference history.

In his third year as the starter this fall, senior Owen O’Toole was the engineer of the greatest season in Rumson-Fair Haven history. He passed for a school-record 2,893 yards along with 25 touchdowns and also ran for nine touchdowns.

O’Toole led the Shore Conference in passing for a team that also finished No. 1 in the Shore in scoring at 40.7 points per game.

His superlative senior season ended with the Bulldogs going 13-0 and winning their first NJSIAA Group 2 title, which has earned him Shore Sports Insider Offensive Player of the Year honors for the 2024 season.

Rumson senior quarterback Owen O'Toole threw for 256 yards and a touchdown in the vicotry. (Tom Smith/tspsportsimages.com)  - Owen O'Toole

Owen O’Toole led the Shore Conference in passing yards during an unbeaten season with the Bulldogs.. (Tom Smith/tspsportsimages.com)

“To see him come into this year, he was at a different level than everybody else with his leadership abilities,” Schulte said. “We run the clock during practice and before the horn is sounding he’s getting them going into the next thing. The second he said something, everybody stopped and listened. To see that is incredible and speaks to him as a leader and someone kids who are his best friends truly look up to and respect.”

O’Toole commanded a prolific offense that often ran at warp speed out of the no huddle. The instant the officials were spotting the ball, the Bulldogs were snapping it, which required the quarterback to make instant decisions.

“Outside of the passing yards and the touchdowns, his control of the game was just incredible,” Schulte said. “He had carte blanche to check into whatever he wanted to check into. At a certain point we were like, ‘If you see it, take it.’ He was out there having fun, and that was the best part about it.”

O’Toole helped Rumson record its first undefeated season since going 7-0-2 in 1959 and erase the heartbreak of two straight losses in the Group 2 championship game.

Also named the Class A North Offensive Player of the Year by the coaches, O’Toole finished his career No. 2 in Shore Conference history with 7,099 yards passing. He is one of only two quarterbacks in Shore history to pass for more than 7,000 yards.

He also threw 68 touchdown passes in his career and ran for 15 touchdowns. He threw for a career-high 329 yards in a regular-season win over Donovan Catholic and for 325 in a win over Point Boro in the Group 2 semifinals.

O’Toole has been offered a preferred walk-on spot at Bryant University and has drawn strong interest from Sacred Heart, according to Schulte.

“Sophomore year he was the underdog, and junior year he had a tough season when we played some really good teams,” Schulte said. “I feel like he was hard on himself last year, and then this year he just turned into something else that was really incredible.”

Scott Stump is a freelance reporter, newsletter writer and editor who first started covering Shore Conference football in 1999 and has covered basketball, baseball and seemingly every other Shore Conference sport at some point. 

You can contact Scott at [email protected]