Colonial trio were the top athletes in 1999-00

By tim morris


JERRY WOLKOWITZ Darrell Reid (center) puts a bear hug around his fellow athletes of the year Dave O’Rourke (l) and Jason Kutney. The three star athletes all graduated from Freehold High School this year. JERRY WOLKOWITZ Darrell Reid (center) puts a bear hug around his fellow athletes of the year Dave O’Rourke (l) and Jason Kutney. The three star athletes all graduated from Freehold High School this year.

OOne is an intimidating linebacker whose ferocious play on the gridiron was contagious.

Another is a silky-smooth midfielder whose skill level on the soccer field put him on Olympic Developmental teams.

The third is a Group state champion in the shot put who competed on the national stage.

Together, Darrell Reid, Jason Kutney and Dave O’Rourke inspired their teammates to become champions, united the community behind the Colonials and brought statewide recognition to the small town of Freehold Borough.

They also earned themselves athletic scholarships to major colleges. Reid will be playing football in the Big 10 with Minnesota in the fall while Kutney will be playing soccer at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. O’Rourke will continue his track and field career at the University of Virginia.

For their athletic exploits and what they helped to do for Freehold Borough, Reid, Kutney and O’Rourke, share the News Transcript’s 2000 Male Athlete of the Year honors.

"Big players can come out of small schools" was what Reid told students at Freehold Borough after he realized his goal of earning a scholarship to play football to Minnesota. And they don’t come any bigger than the Colonials’ remarkable trio.

It was a championship fall for Freehold Borough as the boys’ soccer and football teams gave everyone teams to shout about. Reid said that each team fed off the success of the other, uniting, not dividing the teams and the school.

"We were all pulling for each other," he recalled.

O’Rourke remembered the way the school and community came together.

"Everyone rallied around us," he pointed out.

The Colonials easily won the Shore Conference C South Division soccer title, their first in more than a decade. That was news enough but that title was just the start. A memorable run in the state playoffs took Freehold Borough all the way to the State Group II championship game.

Fans had the opportunity to see an exciting team that played as one. The Colonials got to play for the Central Jersey Group II championship at home against Somerville, and a near-perfect game brought them a 2-0 win and the school’s first sectional title since 1984.

The run continued in the Group II semi-finals where the Colonials upset South Jersey champion Cinnaminson, which was 20-1-1, in a shoot-out. The teams struggled to a scoreless tie through regulation and overtime before Freehold settled matters by winning the shoot-out, 3-2.

That took the Colonials to the state title game at Kean University in Union. It was the school’s first trip to the state championships since 1984. Although they fell to Chatham, 2-1, they had given themselves and their fans memories for a lifetime.

"What I’ll remember is the bus rides after the games and the faces of all the kids on the team," noted Kutney. "They were mostly smiles because it was usually a good ride home.

"It was such a great season," the all-state player added. "Not much was expected of us, but we played real hard as a team and got on a roll."

All season long it was Kutney who was the field general and who supplemented his skills to the team, making everyone better. He was the leader.

"The community was a big part of our success," he noted. "It was special."

 

If the soccer team’s success caught everyone by surprise, the football team shocked them.

The Colonials went from worse to first, from 0-10 to the co-championship of the C South Division, reviving memories of Freehold’s tradition-rich past on the gridiron while gaining a measure of respect and redemption for themselves.

It was the imposing, hard-hitting Reid who was the inspiration. He was everyone’s all-everything linebacker. Teams designed offenses to stay away from him. But with his quickness and nose for the ball, it didn’t work. His trademark was the crushing hit, and he created a highlight film of them. Borough fans came to see him wreck teams.

It all reached fruition for the football team in Freehold on Oct. 30 when the Colonials rallied for a 14-12 win over Holmdel to clinch the co-championship. Freehold was champion on the gridiron for the first time since Joe Henderson dazzled everyone in 1985.

"There was a lot of joy and happiness as well as tears," Reid said. "The win was for ourselves, the school and the community."

The Colonials followed that with a 12-0 upset of previously undefeated Keyport, which went on to win the Central Jersey Group I championship.

It was Reid who stood above the rest, taking his role as co-captain seriously.

"Being a captain is very important to me," Reid explained. "I’m looked upon as a leader and I have to set the example by working hard.

"I tell everyone that practice should be harder than the game," he added. "If you work hard in practice, in the game everything will fall into place."

And, everything fell into place for the Colonials.

O’Rourke had the best of both worlds. He shared in the football championship as an offensive and defensive lineman who was in the trenches doing the dirty work that is often times overlooked, and of course, knew the heights of individual achievement in track and field.

He won every title in the shot put, including the indoor and outdoor Group II state championships multiple times, except the Meet of Champions, where in four tries he had three second places and a third. Even in defeat at the MOC he proved what kind of competitor he is by throwing his best there. He holds the Freehold District record in the event at 60-6.

But the football title was special

"You’re part of a team in football," said O’Rourke. "That championship is one I’ll never forget. It ranks right up there with track and field. It’s unbelievable."

So was O’Rourke’s run in track and field. It took him to the Penn Relays where he medaled twice as well as the national championships.

"When I first started throwing the shot put, I never expected that I would be able to get a scholarship for doing it," said O’Rourke. "It was in my sophomore year when I improved from 43 to 52 feet that I first realized I could be good. But I never thought I’d do what I did."

Despite tendinitis in his knee which limited his training this spring, O’Rourke reached beyond 59 feet, putting him among the best in the county.

Reid, Kutney and O’Rourke didn’t know each other that well when they were freshmen. Kutney went to St. Rose of Lima grammar school and only remembered O’Rourke from recreation soccer. But it didn’t take long for them to know each other and respect each other’s talents,

"We weren’t that close at first," noted Reid. "But we got very tight as we got to know each other."

As they got closer to one another, being the competitors that they are, they developed a competition among themselves, a competition that led them to championships.

"It was a friendly competition," said Kutney. "We knew how to get each other going. We motivated each other."

They learned to appreciate the talents that each possessed as well.

"I didn’t see Jason play until this year," said Reid. "You could see he was a step above the rest. He was doing some amazing stuff that no one else was."

Kutney admired what Reid and O’Rourke did.

"I was so impressed watching these two play," he said. "I remember a hit Darrell made this year against Keyport’s Ris Lee. He knocked him flat out. That hit summed up Darrell’s career here."

"I don’t know how Dave throws the shot put that far," he added. "When you see him competing, everyone else is so much bigger than Dave, but he outthrows them. When you see him work out in the weight room, you can see why."

For all three, their experiences at Freehold were memorable.

"Everyone is very tight-knit around here," said O’Rourke. "Freehold Borough had a lot to be proud of this year. We accomplished a lot. It was nice to be a part of it."

Reid can’t believe that it’s all over. He noted it seemed just like yesterday that he was a freshman who thought his best sport was basketball.

"It was very enjoyable experience," he said. "The four years just flew by."

Kutney was proud to be a Colonial.

"Freehold is an unbelievable school," he said. "Everyone knocks Freehold Borough, but we have more to show [for it] than any of the other schools right now."

And that’s due in large part to the accomplishments of Reid, Kutney and O’Rourke, who left an indelible imprint at Freehold Borough. The trio are an inspiration for future Colonial stars.

Yes, you can play at a small school and do very big things.