Murphy, Bruno represent West Windsor as scholars
It takes a sharp mind to play quarterback, but the signal callers from the West Windsor-Plainsboro high schools use their brains for a lot more than just running an offense.
WW-P South’s Max Bruno and WW-P North’s Brian Murphy, both QBs for their respective teams, are two of the 22 high school honorees at the 56th Annual George Wah Scholar-Leader-Athlete Awards Dinner. The event, hosted by the Delaware Valley Chapter of the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, will be held March 11 at the Hyatt Regency in Princeton, beginning at 4 p.m.
Despite the fact WW-PN did not field a varsity team this year, Murphy is being recognized for his entire body of work along with the fact he decided to stay at North as a senior rather than transfer to a school with a varsity program. He follows in the footsteps of brother Kevin, who was a 2014 Scholar-Athlete.
As a junior quarterback, Murphy threw for 2,110 yards and 24 touchdown passes, being named WJFL first-team All-Patriot Division and earning the Northern Knights MVP award.
“He made the decision to stay at West Windsor North to finish out his high school career even without the potential for varsity football,” coach Jeff Reilly said. “It was an unpopular decision to make, but he decided that he wanted to finish where he started and where he grew up. Brian Murphy will always be remembered as a high character person first and then a great quarterback. He is the example that will set the foundation for our football program in years to come and the model for what we want our athletes to be at West Windsor Plainsboro.”
Academically, Murphy has a 3.2 GPA. He is a volunteer for the Northern Knights Youth Football Camp, the West Windsor Wildcats Youth Football program and the Princeton Special Sports Camp.
Bruno’s leadership qualities were proven when every teammate and coach gave him a vote when selecting captains.
Bruno played quarterback, linebacker and numerous spots on special teams. He completed over 60 percent of his passes and threw for over 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns on a predominantly running team. Defensively he had over 50 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery last fall.
“Max was a 48-minute football player who only came off the field when we were returning a punt,” coach Skip Edwards said. “His feedback during the game about what he recognized from the offensive sets was valued and received by our defensive coordinator with much success. He demonstrated a skill level for the game by being able to call audibles that were successful in most cases and put the team in a good position to move down the field.”
Bruno sports a GPA of 3.47. and has done volunteer work with the Special Olympics in basketball and soccer; West WindsorPlainsboro Pop Warner and Queenship of Mary Roman Catholic Church (Christmas gift organizing, vacation bible school).
Follow Rich Fisher on twitter @fish4scores