Jordan Angstreich’s breakout season has Rumson-Fair Haven on the cusp of history

When Jordan Angstreich first reported for offseason workouts ahead of his sophomore season he was just another undersized receiver hoping to find a spot on one of the Shore Conference’s top football programs. Rumson-Fair Haven head coach Jeremy Schulte wasn’t sure that would ever happen.

“If you told me his sophomore year when he walked into the weight room for the first time that he would even be starting on varsity for us, I would have laughed,” Schulte said. “He was a little kid and hadn’t grown into his body yet.”

Three seasons later, Angstreich is having one of the greatest years by a wide receiver in Shore Conference history for an undefeated team on the brink of a state championship. As a junior, he caught 14 passes for 161 yards and one touchdown. On Friday night, the senior tied a career-high with 10 receptions for 123 yards in Rumson’s 44-10 win over Point Boro to send the Bulldogs to their third straight NJSIAA Group 2 state final.

Through 12 games, Angstreich has 67 receptions for a program single-season record 1,164 yards and 13 touchdowns. He is the leading receiver in the Shore this season and one of just two players with over 1,000 receiving yards. His 1,164 yards are the most by a Shore Conference wide receiver since Middletown North’s Brendan Kube had 1,149 in 2016. He is a key cog in a Rumson offense that leads the Shore Conference averaging 42 points per game.

Angstreich isn’t blessed with elite speed, rare size or freakish athletic ability. His superpower is a tireless work ethic that he used to transform himself into one of the most productive receivers in New Jersey. From the weight room to the practice field to watching film, Angstreich has left nothing to chance in his quest for greatness. Now he’s in the midst of the ultimate breakout season.

“That kid – and with this team, this is a lot to say – is probably our hardest worker,” Schulte said. “He has done everything we have asked of him from his sophomore year. He is a full-on Orrok disciple (Rumson strength & conditioning coach Rob Orrok). He is in the weight room, he eats right, he does everything he’s supposed to do.”

“Hard work,” Rumson senior quarterback Owen O’Toole said. “That kid is the first one to get here and the last one to leave, every single time. He works his tail off in the weight room and on the field. I’ve never seen a kid work so hard, I really haven’t. He puts his whole heart into it and he loves the game of football. He’s had great leaders who he’s learned from and he’s really put his head down and worked. This is the outcome.”

The 6-foot, 190-pounder showed flashes as a junior when starting wideouts Nick Rigby and Sean Trinder were out with injuries. He had four catches for 80 yards and a touchdown in a win over a previously-undefeated Marlboro team just before the start of the playoffs, but saw limited action in Rumson’s run to the Group 2 final after the Bulldogs’ were back at full strength. Still, Angstreich continued to improve and his constant presence in the weight room and on the practice field was impossible to ignore. With one of the state’s best quarterbacks and another standout receiver on the other side in senior Nick Thomas, Schulte envisioned Angstreich putting it all together as a senior starter.

“It’s because of all the work he’s done with Owen and Nick and Nick Economou and Jack Gyimesi. Those guys are always out there throwing the ball and running our plays through the entire offseason,” Schulte said. “When we said he was going to have a big year we knew something along these lines was going to happen.”

Angstreich began the season with three catches for 55 yards in a 41-28 win over Point Boro and followed that up with six receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown in a 35-6 win over Marlboro and eight catches for 89 yards and two touchdowns in a 35-0 victory over Long Branch. He was setting career-highs for receptions and yards seemingly every week and posted his first career 100-yard game when he hauled in six passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-7 win over Manchester.

Five days later, Rumson headed down Ridge Road into Red Bank to battle arch rival Red Bank Catholic. That’s where Angstreich announced himself to the rest of the Shore with a career-high 10 receptions for 205 yards and a touchdown in the Bulldogs’ 26-11 victory that clinched the Class A North division title. In five games since, Angstreich has three 100-yard games and has posted at least 86 yards each week.

On the field, Angstreich is elite at executing the fundamentals. He runs great routes and understands the nuances of getting open against various coverages. On top of that, he is one of the most sure-handed receivers in the state.

“You’ll never see him drop a ball,” O’Toole said. “We’re out here joking around, wearing gloves, no gloves, and he’s making one-handed catches. He can do it all. He’s one of the best route runners I’ve ever seen and he’s a lot faster than he looks. He’s the most Division 1 receiver I’ve ever seen that’s going D3. He’s incredible.”

“I think my biggest strength is my IQ and knowing where to be on the field,” said Angstreich, who is committed to Middlebury College. “I know how to get myself open even if I’m not the fastest.”

O’Toole sliced and diced Point Boro’s defense with a career-high 334 yards on Friday with the highlight of the night coming midway through the third quarter after Point Boro had trimmed Rumson’s lead to 13-10. The Bulldogs needed a response and Angstreich helped them deliver with a sensational 39-yard catch over a defender down to the 2-yard line. That set up junior running back Kellen Murray for a short touchdown to begin a string of 31 unanswered points.

“Me and Owen have the most trust in each other that I think I’ll ever have with anybody,” Angstreich said. “He knew I would catch it and I knew he would deliver me a perfect ball.”

Angstreich’s meteoric rise is a shining example of how championship programs develop players to keep the machine running. Rumson has had its fair share of of high-end talent who entered high school with great expectations, but a public school doesn’t reach 11 straight sectional finals, win nine sectional championships since 2010 and reach three straight group finals with a top-heavy roster.

“That’s part of our program, that next-man-up mentality,” Schulte said. “Every school everywhere graduates kids. We’re used to that. We’re fortunate to have many kids like Jordan. Those guys realize that’s what’s going to happen by the time they hit their senior year. For Jordan, it’s really a testament to his hard work and everything he’s been willing to do.”

Rumson will try to complete the program’s first undefeated season since 1959 when it takes on Shabazz in the Group 2 state final, which is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 4 at Rutgers University. After two straight heartbreaking losses in the state final, the Bulldogs are laser-focused on closing out what has been the greatest season in program history.

“I don’t think it really matters who we are playing,” Angstreich said. “We put up over 40 points a game. We know what we can do as an offense. We’ve had Rutgers circled since we lost last year. We knew we’d be back, it was just a matter of time.”