Experienced O’Brien jumpstarts PDS offense
By: Bob Nuse
It didn’t take long for Bruce Devlin to realize the kind of football player he had in Clint O’Brien.
"He came in as a freshman and has been our starting quarterback ever since," the Princeton Day School head coach said. "I didn’t let him know until the day before our first game that he was going to be the starter. We had a junior who was returning, but Clint was just better. So we felt like we had to start him. He’s just a great kid to be around. There is never a day when he does not put the team first."
O’Brien has been the starter for the Panthers since that first game as a freshman. And now, as a junior, he’s already had two years of experience at the varsity level playing a position most players don’t get to play until they are a junior or senior.
"Having the two years of experience has really helped me," said O’Brien, who has also played varsity baseball, basketball and ice hockey at PDS. "I know the plays and I’m a lot more comfortable with those two years under my belt. I think that has really helped me coming into this year. I feel like I have an advantage over some of the other players at the position because of my experience."
Last Saturday, O’Brien and his PDS teammates broke out of a two-game offensive slump and exploded for five touchdowns in a 34-6 win over George School. O’Brien played a hand in four of those touchdowns, throwing a pair of TD passes and also rushing for two scores. In all, he passed for 175 yards and ran for another 82 as the Panthers won for the first time this season.
Clint O’Brien is the Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week.
"It was a nice game because we were finally clicking on offense and defense," said O’Brien, a Cranbury resident. "We have a lot of young guys this year and the first two games we were finding out what kind of a team we were going to be. It was tough coming into this year losing guys like David Blitzer and Alex Kowalski. And we also lost most of our line from last year. We had a lot of young guys step up who are playing new positions."
One position where the Panthers are set is quarterback, where O’Brien has held down the starting job for three years. He’s part of a junior class that also includes a three-year starter at running back, Mike Shimkin, and another three-year starter at receiver in Andrew Ojeda.
All three of those players have been key to the Panthers’ steady improvement, which included a seven-win season a year ago. O’Brien, who also plays every play on defense for the Panthers, has been happy to do his part.
"He’s competitive and really athletic," Devlin said. "Not only is he our quarterback, but he also plays defensive end. That’s something that you really don’t see in high school. But he’s a kid that does whatever you ask him to do. He’s big and he can run."
At 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, O’Brien has the size of a defensive end. And he runs a 4.6 in the 40-yard dash, which makes him dangerous on offense. But the biggest quality he brings to the team is his leadership ability.
"He’s a real team player, that’s the biggest thing," Devlin said. "He puts the team before himself every time. He has a lot of talent, but he always puts the team first. He works hard and stays after practice all the time. He’s a junior, but everyone really looks up to him.
"Clint is friends with everybody. It doesn’t matter if you’re the best player or the worst player to Clint, he’s that kind of person."
The transition O’Brien made to PDS was helped by the fact his older brother, Dan, was already at the school. Having his brother already established at the school made stepping in as a freshman quarterback a smooth transition.
"I felt like I was ready to play varsity," O’Brien said of that freshman season. "I fit in pretty quickly and I think it helped being at PDS because it’s a school where a lot of younger kids play varsity sports. I came in as a freshman and had a chance to meet some of the older kids right away in football and I think that helped me fit in. It also helped that my brother was here, so I knew some of the kids already.
"My brother was at PDS when I was applying, so I knew Coach Devlin. Going into the season I didn’t know if I would be playing wide receiver or quarterback. But he had me prepared when the season started."
As successful as O’Brien has been on the football field, his best sport has been baseball. In fact, it’s baseball that keeps him from doing more work on his football over the summer.
"My summer was filled with baseball," O’Brien said. "I played on two AAU teams and also played American Legion. So baseball was how I spent most of my time in the summer. I love football, but it’s more of an in-season thing for me. I don’t get to do much football over the summer because of baseball. I think that’s where having the two years of experience really helps me."
O’Brien is that rare four-sport varsity athlete, having played basketball as a freshman and ice hockey last winter. He’s not sure which sport he’ll play this winter, but he’ll certainly be doing something.
"I have to be playing some sport," he said. "I don’t know what I’d do if I wasn’t playing for a season."
Right now, the season is football, and he hopes last week’s win gets the Panthers heading in the right direction.
"We have a real big game coming up against Manville," he said. "They’re 4-0 and they’re having a real good year. They have a good running back and they’re a real talented team."
So are the Panthers. And it all starts with the experience at the quarterback position.

