Toms River North’s T.J. Valerio stuck it out to become a star as a senior. He credits his parents, who are deaf, with his resilience

The state’s longest current winning streak was hanging in the balance on Sept. 27 when Toms River North head coach Dave Oizerowitz decided to show the ultimate faith in senior quarterback T.J. Valerio.

Point Boro was up by a touchdown and on the verge of one of the biggest upsets in New Jersey this season. Undefeated Toms River North faced a fourth-and-15 from its own 32-yard line with 11 minutes left in the game.

The Mariners could have easily elected to punt, considering that a failure to convert would mean Point Boro’s clock-eating triple option might be able to put the game away with great field position.

Oizerowitz decided to go for it.

“That play had been open all night, and T.J. is so accurate,” Oizerowitz said. “But our protection broke down a little bit, and then he had a guy hanging on his waist.”

Valerio went through his progressions, stepped to his left and saw one of his favorite targets, senior wideout Cam Thomas, flashing open. He whistled a strike just as Point Boro defensive lineman Tanner Hynes crashed into him, and Thomas hauled it in for a 30-yard catch (3:32 mark in the video above).

The Mariners scored on the drive to tie the game and ultimately walked away with their winning streak intact after a thrilling 24-21 comeback victory.

“That was one of the best throws I’ve ever seen in a pressure spot,” Oizerowitz said.

Even the players were a little surprised at their coach’s bold playcall. Fourth-and-15 from your own 32?!

“I was nervous when I heard the play that went out,” senior running back Mordecai Ford said. “I was just like, ‘The game is on the line here,’ and when I was blocking I was looking through and I saw absolutely nobody open. I didn’t even see Cam, and he just hit Cam on the money, and I was like, ‘This guy is really special.’ I just always have the feeling that with T.J. back there, we’re going to be fine.”

The play was all about trust.

It’s the type of trust Valerio put in Oizerowitz and the Toms River North program when he could’ve transferred and started for almost any other Shore Conference team instead of being stuck behind superstar Micah Ford for two years. The type of trust that Valerio has earned time and again from his teammates, like he did in a 21-14 comeback win over Kingsway on Friday night in the South Jersey Group 5 semifinals. The type of trust Valerio’s parents, who are deaf, put in him at only six years old when he began acting as a go-between for them with other hearing adults.

“(The Point Boro play) was about way more than just statistics,” Tommy Valerio, T.J.’s father, wrote in an email. “He was never rattled. Stayed calm. We trust in T.J. to make the right decisions.”

Growing up as a CODA

T.J. and his younger brother Shane, who is a freshman quarterback for Toms River North, are what are known as CODAs, or children of deaf adults.

He said his father lost his hearing due to complications at birth, while his mother, Julia, lost hers from a case of chickenpox as a very young child. It was not genetic, so T.J. and Shane are able to hear.

The Mariners senior grew up learning American Sign Language (ASL) from his parents and English from his grandmother, who also helped him learn ASL. He was about six years old when he began helping his parents interact with other adults who did not know sign language.

Toms River North’s senior quarterback T.J. Valerio, pictured with his brother Shane, father Tommy and mother Julia, cites his parents as a reason for his resilience. (Photo by Luke Sags Photography)

“I always had to tell the waitress what drinks they want or what meal they want, or if someone came up to them in the grocery store, I would translate what they were trying to say to them,” Valerio said. “Honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s just one of those things that’s so unique, the love I have for my parents. I’m happy to be the bridge between the hearing and deaf worlds.”

He also endured grade school taunts about his parents.

“It was hard growing up sometimes because my friends’ parents couldn’t really communicate, so they didn’t become close with my parents, and that would leave me out,” he said. “Kids would say stuff in elementary school, and it bothered me for a while. At the end of the day you can’t change it, you just have to embrace it.”

Tommy and Julia modeled resilience daily.

“Being a deaf person in the hearing world has been challenging to say the least,” Tommy Valerio said. “We have faced so many situations where we have had to adapt to being deaf in the hearing world. You can’t sit back and feel sorry for yourself. We go through each day knowing that there will be many challenges.

“Hopefully our boys will learn to tackle each challenge in life and never give up.”

“Resilience runs in the family,” T.J. said. “That’s where I get it from. Seeing my parents, people think their deafness holds them back, but it really doesn’t. You can ask anybody, my dad’s one of the funniest people you know. A lot of people on the team have picked up sign language signs, and it brings a lot of people together.”

T.J. and Shane also inherited their love of football from Tommy, who was a standout kicker for Long Branch in the early 1990s. Tommy was selected to the Monmouth County team for the 1994 All-Shore Classic all-star game, where one of his teammates was Red Bank Catholic wide receiver Gabe Roonan.

In a full-circle moment, Roonan is now a veteran assistant for Toms River North whose son, junior Declan Roonan, blocks for T.J. as an offensive lineman and serves as the team’s long-snapper.

T.J. is a captain, which is suited to a skillset he’s had for a long time.

“Having to learn sign language and communicate with other people to help his parents, I think from the jump his parents prepped him on being a good captain and good leader,” Ford said.

Waiting his turn

Valerio’s resilience was put to the test the past two seasons when he sat behind Micah Ford, a Shore Conference legend and two-time New Jersey Player of the Year. Ford has transitioned to tailback at the next level and is currently the second-leading rusher for Stanford University as a true freshman.

Valerio watched as many of his classmates cracked the starting lineup and made an impact while he sat on the bench behind Ford. In an age when talented quarterbacks stuck behind another player immediately think about transferring, Valerio made the increasingly rare choice to stick it out.

“It was definitely a tough time,” he said. “There was a few (schools). I definitely had some lookarounds. I had a time where I had to lay out the pros and cons and stuff. I knew that what I wanted to do was stay at North, win games at North and show out for my hometown. I didn’t want to leave and play with guys I didn’t have any chemistry with.”

“We have a really good offensive staff, and we have a history of developing talented quarterbacks at a high level, and I think he understood his best option in the long run was to stay here and develop,” Oizerowitz said. “He knew what kind of talent he had around him.”

Valerio’s own parents even thought a new program might be the best move.

“It was difficult not seeing T.J. play, knowing how talented he is,” his father said. “When T.J. thought about transferring, we were actually in favor of it, but it was his decision not to transfer. He is dedicated to TRN, and although it was frustrating for us, we trusted T.J. to make the right decision.”

Mordecai Ford had a unique understanding of what Valerio was enduring. He was stuck behind All-Shore running back Josh Moore for two seasons. He also knows exactly what it’s like to be in the shadow of Micah Ford because he is Micah’s younger brother.

“We believed that we were good players that would start anywhere else, and we had people in our heads talking to us,” Ford said. “T.J. and I got together, and we just talked about it. We put trust in Coach Oz that he’s doing what’s best for the team, so we just have to wait our turn and know that our time’s coming. We just kind of talked sense into each other.”

To keep himself busy, Valerio started his own car detailing business, Tuned Mobile Detailing, that he still runs with the help of some friends.

“It’s fun,” he said. “I don’t want a boring life. I want to branch out into different experiences and learn when I’m young and can afford to make mistakes.”

Valerio gave a glimpse of his potential as a junior when Micah Ford battled injuries and missed multiple games. He threw for 486 yards and 7 touchdowns and ran for 387 yards and 4 touchdowns as the Mariners won their second straight NJSIAA Group 5 title. All those fierce practices against former Toms River North All-Shore defensive backs Tareq Council and Jeremiah Pruitt sharpened Valerio for his chance as a senior.

“I think he sets a great example that when you have a program that’s successful, you’re going to have to wait your turn and let us develop you,” Oizerowitz said. “We don’t win the Group 5 title last year without him.”

In an overtime loss to top-ranked Red Bank Catholic during the regular season, Valerio had to step in when Ford was injured, and the Mariners didn’t miss a beat and took the Caseys to the brink. Valerio threw two touchdown passes and ran for another, going toe to toe with a program that went on to win the Non-Public B title.

Valerio’s time to shine

Oizerowitz could sense a big year was coming this fall when the Mariners didn’t lose a single 7-on-7 tournament all summer with Valerio at the helm. A team that thrived on the power running of Micah Ford now had a diverse passing attack led by Valerio and an army of targets headlined by Thomas, senior Nasir Jackson, sophomore Cole Garrison, and Ford out of the backfield.

“You should see me in practice. They all the want the ball,” Valerio said before laughing. “It’s a good problem to have.”

“If a skill guy is not asking for the ball, I don’t want him playing for us,” Oizerowitz said. “But a few times I’ve had to tell those guys, ‘Just leave him alone because he’s going to get it to the open guy, and we don’t want him forcing the ball because you guys need a touch.'”

There aren’t too many teams that can graduate a player like Micah Ford and keep the machine running, but the Mariners – ranked No. 1 in the Shore Sports Insider Top 12 all season – have done just that.

Valerio is 108-for-140 passing (77% completion rate) for 1,966 yards, 23 touchdowns and only two interceptions despite rarely playing four full quarters because of blowouts. He also leads the team with 687 yards rushing, and Toms River North is averaging 37.9 points per game.

“I’m glad I finally have this year to show what I can be,” Valerio said. “I bet on myself staying here at North, so it wasn’t really showing others as much as it really was proving to myself what I could be and what I’m made of.”

Toms River North has now won 16 games in a row, the longest active winning streak in New Jersey, and has rattled off 36 in a row against fellow public schools. The Mariners are headed to their fourth straight sectional final after beating Kingsway on Friday night to set up a showdown with second-seeded Rancocas Valley in the championship game on Nov. 15 at Gernerd Field.

Valerio is still searching for a college home, but is now focused on helping Toms River North win three straight Group 5 titles in the first three seasons that overall Group titles have been contested. It’s a feat that would put them in the pantheon of Shore Conference teams.

“It’s a lot of pressure,” Ford said. “It’s very nerve-racking, but I think having T.J. back there is like a reassurance that everything is going to be all right. Same as Micah.”

Regardless of what happens over the next three weeks, he is grateful for his moment in the sun and his decision to stay.

“No regrets,” he said. “I’m very glad that thought of leaving didn’t turn into an outcome of me transferring. I’m happy I rode it out with my boys, the coaches, and my hometown. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

In T.J. they trust.