O’Reilly left his mark as Howell’s team leader
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

Sean O’Reilly

Sean O’Reilly was beside himself last week. “I was coming home sleeping,” he said. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

Howell High School’s longest, most successful football season had come to an end on the night of Dec. 3 when the Rebels lost to Hunterdon Central, 42-24, at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV championship game. The quarterback suddenly found himself with nothing to do. No more practices, no more film to watch, no more game planning.

O’Reilly’s scholastic career ended at Rutgers University that night but with the satisfaction that he and his teammates had done something no other Howell football team had done — play for a state sectional title.

As coach Cory Davies pointed out after the game, Howell’s senior class had “upped the ante.” They had been the most successful class in school history the last two falls, winning more games (15), winning three state playoff games (including the first ever by the Rebels) and making it to the Central Jersey final.

In that final, O’Reilly was magnificent, showing everyone in the state what he’s meant for Howell football. He was 29-for-43 for 280 yards. He threw three touchdown passes, intercepted two passes, one that resulted in a short field and a Rebel touchdown, and he blocked a field goal in the final seconds of the first half that was returned 83 yards by Jason Amato for a touchdown that brought Howell back from a 21-0 hole to 21-18 at the half.

Standing on the Rutgers Stadium turf after the game, Davies said that O’Reilly was probably the most valuable player in the state — not the best, simply the most valuable. No team, he noted, relied on one player for its success more than Howell did. He put his trust in his quarterback to run a wide-open spread offense where the Rebels threw the ball on almost every down, requiring quick decision-making from O’Reilly. He made it work the last two years, and as his two pass interceptions would indicate, he was pretty darn good on defense.

No one who saw his performance in the state final would disagree with Davies.

Just two years ago, O’Reilly was playing wide receiver, a position he says he still likes more than any other on the gridiron. He had no idea that before the season was over, he would be the Howell quarterback and that it wouldn’t be temporary.

The Rebels were going through a forgettable injury-plagued season. By the seventh game of the season, they had lost their starting quarterback and his backup. In an emergency, Davies turned to his athletic wide receiver.

Davies liked what he saw from O’Reilly in the final three games of the season and decided to make the move permanent.

“We were looking to find another quarterback, one with speed and athleticism,” recalled Davies. “If you lined all of our players up and had them run the 100-yard dash, O’Reilly would probably win. He does have great speed.”

With O’Reilly set as the quarterback, Davies and his staff decided to change the Rebel offense entirely. They went to a spread offense that at times had no one in the backfield.

In the off-season, O’Reilly went to work mastering the playbook and his passing.

“I used to throw the football like a baseball [he plays center field for the Rebels],” he remarked. “Coach got me to get my arm up higher when I threw it.”

The countless hours of throwing and reading the playbook paid off in 2005. Howell would go 8-3 with O’Reilly throwing the ball all over the field. He completed 152 of his 267 passes for 1,633 yards and seven scores. He ran for another 421 and six scores. His total offense was 2,054.

The eight wins were the most ever in a single season by a Howell team, and included in the victory total was the school’s first-ever state playoff triumph (32-26 over Sayreville).

O’Reilly did not rest on his laurels though. Having become an efficient passer who could throw from the pocket or on the run, and having memorized the playbook, he looked at becoming a better quarterback, reading defenses and making better decisions.

“At the end of my junior season, every day at 6 a.m. or 6:30 before school I was in the coach’s office going over film,” he said. “We took a look at every game and every defense. There’s a big difference watching the game on film.”

Davies would go over every play and every defensive formation the Rebels saw. Pointing out what to look for and where blitzes would come from.

“He worked hard with me,” O’Reilly pointed out. “Coach Davies played quarterback in high school and college. He knows the position and what to look for. We became pretty close.”

Close enough for Davies to put his trust in O’Reilly to the point that he could audible at the line of scrimmage.

“He really trusted me,” he said.

For good reason, according to Davies.

“Sean really understands the offense and his position in it,” he explained. “He has a knack, a vision to see things when he scans the field and reads progressions.”

There were some who doubted that Howell’s offense would be as effective in 2006. Three of O’Reilly’s Top 4 pass receivers had graduated, and the team itself would have a strong underclass presence.

But O’Reilly was better than ever and the Rebels rallied from a 2-3 start to qualify for the state playoffs, where they won two games, including a 14-7 win over Brick Memorial in the semifinals in the first-ever playoff home game for Howell to advance to the state final.

O’Reilly was selected by the coaches as the Shore Conference A Constitution Division Offensive Player of the Year. His numbers spoke for themselves — 2,165 yards passing on 186 completions in 276 attempts. He tossed 20 touchdown passes and just six interceptions. He ran for 418 yards and five touchdowns and was even on the receiving end of a touchdown pass. He accumulated more than 2,600 yards from scrimmage. In his three state playoff games, O’Reilly was on a different level, completing 64 of his 88 passes for 700 yards and five touchdowns.

It wasn’t just numbers. O’Reilly knew the other 10 players on the field had to trust him as much as Davies trusted him.

“I have pretty good leadership skills,” he said. “You have to be positive and make everyone believe that we can do it.”

It was O’Reilly who would not let the Rebels get down on themselves when they fell behind 21-0 in the state final. They would come back and make a game of it with three touchdowns in the final seven minutes of the second quarter to trail just 21-18.

A typical Howell drive included six or seven passes and a touchdown that resulted from the confidence that O’Reilly’s leadership skills produced in his teammates.

“It’s a great feeling,” said O’Reilly. “Everybody is doing their job. There’s no better feeling.”

As for what it was that took this team further in the postseason than any Howell before it?

“It was how well we worked together and bonded,” O’Reilly replied. “Everyone believed in the job they were doing.”

O’Reilly needn’t worry about his idleness. Soon enough he’ll be very busy over the next couple of months making his college decision. Offers from Division I-AA teams are pouring in, and the senior plans on narrowing it down and making some official visits before making his decision.