Bob Fitzpatrick ran for over 1,000 yards as a junior in Barnegat's first varsity season before being injured in the third game of the year as a senior against St. John Vianney (above).
Brandon Clarke became the first 1,000-yard passer in Barnegat history and will suit up with three of his teammates as part of the Ocean County squad in the Shore Gridiron Classic.
*The
Shore Gridiron Classic will be held on July 18 at 7 p.m. at Brick
Township High School, pitting the best seniors from Ocean County
against their counterparts from Monmouth County. Tickets are available
in advance at all Applebee's locations in Monmouth and Ocean County, as
well as Huddy's Inn in Colts Neck and Velocity Sports Performance in
Wall. The tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door.*
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE
Click here to watch video highlights of Barnegat's Bob Fitzpatrick, Brandon Clarke, Jon Rogers and Erik Smithman, who will be playing for Ocean County in the Shore Gridiron Classic.
Click here for the Gridiron Classic Rosters
No one wants the last memory of a history-making high school career to be one of pulsating pain, of draping your arms around teammates and hoping against hope that it really isn't as bad as it feels during the slow trudge to the sidelines.
That teeth-gritting night has been lodged in the mind of Barnegat senior running back Bob Fitzpatrick, who appeared on his way to a monster season for the Bengals during the fall before a facemask to the side of his right knee from a St. John Vianney defender detonated a part of his leg and his legacy, not to mention much of Barnegat's hopes, in the third game of his senior year. After becoming the first 1,000-yard rusher in school history as a junior on a team with no seniors in Barnegat's first varsity season, one of the team's hardest working players watched his senior season evaporate on a humid night on the artificial turf at St. John Vianney this past fall.
"Being there when he was told his season was done was a very tough moment for everybody,'' said Barnegat coach Rob Davis. "I hope I never have to go through that again. That hit home to a lot of people who know Bobby and what kind of kid he is and how hard he works. It taught everyone to savor the moment, because you never know when it can be taken away from you.''
Fitzpatrick tore his anterior cruciate ligament and partially tore his medial collateral ligament and his meniscus, resulting in surgery on Dec. 3, 2007, followed by six months of therapy that recently concluded. In addition to rehabbing himself to get ready for his upcoming collegiate career at Kean University, Fitzpatrick also had one other light shining bright at the end of the tunnel.
In May, Davis informed Fitzpatrick that he was selected to the Ocean County squad for the Shore Gridiron Classic, a sign of respect for his ability considering he only played three games. Not only a honor, it also presented a golden opportunity to erase the memory of that night at St. John Vianney.
"I went out in a bad way, so this will be nice to play with my friends one last time,'' Fitzpatrick said. "I've really started working my legs out hard, I've got my new brace, and I want to build the strength in my knee up in order to be ready for this game."
Fitzpatrick will make Barnegat history one last time as he joins quarterback Brandon Clarke, linebacker Jon Rogers and defensive back Erik Smithman as the first group of Bengals players to participate in the Shore Gridiron Classic in the 31-year history of the event. Clarke and Barnegat wideout Ricky Ferguson will also join Fitzpatrick at Kean, Rogers is going to Monmouth University, and Smithman is headed to Wagner, making them the first Barnegat players to play in college. Davis is also serving as the general manager for the Ocean County squad in the Shore Gridiron Classic.
"We didn't know that (St. John Vianney game) was going to be the last time we were going to play with him, so it's great to get one more chance,'' Clarke said. "It was very tough for us. He's one of my best friends, and he was so upset when it happened. Everybody was upset.''
The Bengals went on to beat St. John Vianney that night and finished the season at 5-5, bettering the mark of 4-6 from their inaugural season, when they reached the state playoffs. Smithman became the primary running back and then he was injured as well, forcing Barnegat to do the best it could and wonder what might have been had Fitzpatrick been healthy.
Fitzpatrick had over 100 yards rushing in each of Barnegat's first three games and 388 total along with five touchdowns before he went down. In the St. John Vianney game, he ripped off touchdown runs of 67 yards and 13 yards in the second half on his way to 136 yards in the game before taking the fateful hit to his knee with 2:08 left in the game.
"It was hard because I felt like I let down my team a little bit,'' Fitzpatrick said. "It was frustrating because I thought I was going to do pretty well this season.''
Instead, he was headed to the operating table, followed by therapy sessions three times a week for six months.
"From the day he got hurt, he was focused on getting ready and playing at the next level,'' Davis said. "There's no doubt in my mind he'll be very successful in the rest of his career.''
Fitzpatrick attended every practice and every game, doing what he could and trying to suppress the helpless feeling that comes along with being the injured guy standing on the sidelines.
"It's tough because you feel like you should be out there, doing whatever it takes to help your team win,'' he said.
While his career was cut short, Fitzpatrick still will go down in the record books as Barnegat's all-time leading rusher, the first 1,000-yard rusher, and part of the first senior class in school history, a group that Davis has been coaching since they were in seventh grade. For so many years at Barnegat, it was always about the future, and what these players were going to do when the varsity program began, and what was ahead. Now that future has come and passed, but not without some indelible moments along the way.
"It was a great experience,'' Fitzpatrick said. "Our motto was, 'Let the tradition begin.' Still, it will be really weird (at Kean), seeing 60 different kids on my team that I don't know. I've been playing with these (Barnegat) guys for six years. When we were in seventh and eighth grade, that's all coach Davis would say, 'It's all about the varsity season.' He was always talking about varsity, planning so far ahead, which is why I think we did so well, and now it's over. It's just a strange feeling.''
"You don't really appreciate it as much when you're there, but when you look back, it's pretty cool,'' said Clarke, who became the first 1,000-yard passer in school history in throwing for 1,468 yards and 17 touchdowns this past season. "It was a lot of fun, and you get to let everyone know how it's done. You see the team now, and they're going by what you set.''
This class will always have a special place in Davis's heart, as he watched this group evolve from wide-eyed seventh-graders to fearless varsity players.
"I'm excited for the next four years when those kids graduate (from college) and come back and coach for us,'' Davis said. "When building this program, those kids made a lot of believers out of people. I'm very proud of that group of kids. They believed in each other, and it showed on the field. They gave us a lot of excitement and direction.''
Fitzpatrick is hoping to give the program one last jolt of excitement on the field at Brick on July 18, and he said the practices on the turf at Toms River North under coach Chip LaBarca Jr. will be the proving ground.
"I think the practices are going to be the test for me, but I'll take it as it comes,'' Fitzpatrick said. "If my knee doesn't feel right, I'm not going to risk getting injured before I get to college.''
Generating enthusiam for the game will certainly not be a problem.
"When he got cleared by the doctors the other day, he called me right away,'' Clarke said. "He was so excited.''
Now when he takes the striped orange Barnegat helmet off for the last time, he has an opportunity to remember the roar of the crowd at Brick, not the hush of the crowd at St. John Vianney.
"All I could think when I found out I was playing in this game was that this is a good shot for me,'' Fitzpatrick said. "A shot to finally go out on my terms.''