Looking Ahead
One of South Jersey’s best quarterbacks has determined his next destination and thus continued an impressive family football tradition. Highland senior Connor Leary recently announced that he will attend Bloomsburg University.
Bloomsburg plays in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, a highly competitive Division II conference, where the closest school to South Jersey is West Chester.
Bloomsburg plays in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, a highly competitive Division II conference, where the closest school to South Jersey is West Chester.
“When I took my visit there, they made you feel part of the family,” Leary said. “The coaches are cool, and I already know some kids on the team from South Jersey and I really wanted to play there.”
Leary comes from a football family.
His father Brian was a high school quarterback at Paul VI, then starred at William Paterson, where he is in the school’s athletic Hall of Fame. Brian Leary also was the head coach at Highland for nine years and resigned after this past season.
Connor Leary has two cousins who are also quarterbacks. Devin Leary is preparing for the NFL draft after a distinguished college career at North Carolina State and this past season, Kentucky.
Devin’s brother Donovan Leary is a redshirt freshman quarterback at Illinois. Both Devin and Donovan Leary were high school standouts at Timber Creek.
Connor Leary was a three-year starter at Highland. For his career he threw for 4,005 yards and 31 touchdowns. He threw for more than 1,600 yards in each of the past two seasons. Highland advanced to the South Jersey Group 3 semifinals in both years.
Not surprisingly, Connor Leary has been playing as quarterback for approximately eight years.
He has also benefited from working out with his older cousins during previous off-seasons.
“I worked with them a lot every time they would come home,” Connor said. “They helped me a lot, giving me tips on what I can improve on.”
Connor Leary says he enjoyed playing for his father.
“We both see the game the same way, since we both played the same position,” he said.
Leary said he first started having contact with Bloomsburg during the summer when they saw him at a local football camp.
“I thought it was one of my best camps,” he said. “I thought I did really well, and I was making all my throws.”
Apparently, Bloomsburg also thought that Leary did well. Since that camp the Huskies were in constant communication with the 6’1”, 175-pound Leary.
Not surprisingly, once Leary made his college choice, he was glad that he was finally able to exhale.
“I am definitely relieved,” he said. “It takes a lot of weight off my shoulders. and I can enjoy the rest of my senior year.”
Of course, he won’t be relaxing too much.
Leary, who said he plans to be a business major, is excited about his latest challenge, as yet another member of his family prepares to be a quarterback at the college level.
Photo Courtesy of Connor Leary
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Author: Marc Narducci
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