To Brian Schoenauer, football is simply a team sport. Even though he has had a big impact on High School South’ success this year, Schoenauer is not taking all the credit.
But others are noticing his contributions. The sophomore running back has scored in every game he has played in this season (he missed the team’s fourth game due to injury) and is looking ahead to the rest of his career at South.
“Last year I played on the freshman team,” said Schoenauer. “It was a good way to get introduced to the program. A lot of the success is from the coaches and from the teammates. The coaches always put us in a position to succeed. The rest is up to us.”
It appears he is correct. Coming off an opening loss to Rancocas Valley, Schoenauer propelled the Pirates to victory against Trenton in the second week of the season, running for 226 yards on 21 carries and scoring the game-winning touchdown.
In the team’s close win over Hightstown, 24-23, Schoenauer ran for 192 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown. Against Nottingham, he ran 22 times for 180 yards and a touchdown.
Despite the team’s loss to North on October 16, Schoenauer had a great game, finishing with 187 yards and two touchdowns to bring his season total so far to 855 yards.
“It’s exciting because I realized I could play at the varsity level,” said Schoenauer. “The biggest difference for me is the speed of the game. Everything’s so much faster than I’m used to. But when I started getting going, it was encouraging.”
Schoenauer’s contributions could not have come at a better time. To begin the season, the team was without starting quarterback Chris Evans through the first four games of the season, but the running game proved to be a factor in keeping the team to 2-2 heading into its upset of Nottingham on October 9.
Schoenauer credits his success to the team’s leadership, pointing to players like Alex Rohrbach, Bijan Matthews, and Brian Saravia as key. Saravia and Xavier Saxon have welcomed him into the running back corps, he said.
Schoenauer has played at running back since he began playing football at age 11. “When I was younger, I played a lot of soccer,” he said. “A lot of my friends, teammates, and classmates were playing Pop Warner football, and their fathers were coaching. It sounded like a lot of fun to me.”
When it comes to football advice, Schoenauer can turn to his father, Mickey, who played in high school and Division III college football at the Coast Guard Academy. Schoenauer says his father’s advice to him has been: “Always play hard and have fun.”
His father says that other advice is hardly needed. “I told him he’s a lot better than I ever was,” he said. “I ran the ball in high school, but in college I played defensive back.”
The best thing about football as you get older, though, “is that you remember the camaraderie and teammates,” he said. “You forget an individual player, but you take with you that team camaraderie.”
“I think realizing, especially when you’re young, that it truly is a team effort,” is important, added Mickey Schoenauer. “Week after week, not only does he understand it, but the rest of the team does. The more you understand that, the better off the team is.”
That philosophy is evident in his son’s approach to football. Schoenauer sat out with an injury in the team’s fourth game against Notre Dame. Despite wanting to be out on the field with his teammates, he thought of the team when he decided to rest. “We would have a better chance of winning if someone else were to go 100 percent,” he said.
As a team, “we’re young, but we’re improving,” he said.
Mickey Schoenauer, who works in the pharmaceutical industry, said the family moved to West Windsor in 1997 when his job brought him to Manhattan. His wife, Cynthia, who also worked in the pharmaceutical business prior to moving, agreed to stay home and take care of the family.
In addition to Brian, the Schoenauers also have two daughters — Ciara and Kathryn — and both are also athletes. Ciara, a member of the Class of 2010, played lacrosse and soccer while at South. At Syracuse University, she decided to try out for the women’s crew team and made the team as a walk on. Brian’s other sister, Kathryn, is a cheerleader with Pop Warner. Her team just won the Central Jersey tournament and moved on to the Eastern Regional.
So keeping up with their children’s athletic schedules is a demand. “Saturdays are big,” said Mickey Schoenauer. “But we also go different ways. Sometimes we’re split up. There’s always a balance, and we try to make sure we’re supporting.”
Mickey Schoenauer said he feels his son learned a lot from watching his older sister participate in teams. But he also stands to learn a lot from her college experience.
Brian may also be a college athlete after graduating two seasons from now, and although he would love to play in college, “my first priority is academic.”
“I always pictured myself pursuing the business route, but I’m not sure yet,” he said of his future plans. “I still have time to think.”
College scouts have yet to contact Brian, but if he continues to play well, it might be a reality.
His parents are aware of that possibility and have stressed that “if you go to a place where you’re going to be an athlete, go to a place where you’re a student first, a place that values a student athlete,” his father said he told him. “He’s a good student, and I think he understands that.”
The Pirates will play at Hamilton West on Saturday, October 23 at 2 p.m. On Saturday, October 30, the team plays at home against Allentown at 1 p.m. for its Homecoming celebration.
Meanwhile, North faces Steinert at home at 2 p.m.on Saturday, October 23, and then plays at Hightstown on at 7 p.m. on Friday, October 29.
