Caruso, Russell cap high school football careers in all-star game

Statistically, Calogero Caruso is a perfect football player.

Caruso did not start playing football until his senior season at Old Bridge High School in the fall of 2017. He had been a soccer player up until his senior year.

But in just one season, he made a perfect impact kicking footballs for the Knights.

The placekicker did not miss on any attempts during Old Bridge’s 11 games.

He connected on all seven of his field goal attempts and was perfect on his 33 conversion kicks. He also punted for Old Bridge during his senior year.

For his kicking efforts, Caruso was selected to play in the 40th annual Phil Simms North-South High School All-Star Football Classic that was played on June 25 at Kean University in Union.

Caruso remained perfect in the annual summer all-star game that attracts the top players who were just graduated from high school from both North Jersey and South Jersey.

He connected on all five of his conversion kicks and delivered a 27-yard field goal, his only attempt of the evening. He also handled the kickoffs and punting in the game.

He was among the heroes for a South all-star squad that rolled to a 38-16 victory over the North.

“We had a good snapper and a good holder,” Caruso said. “As long as everything goes down, I’m set.”

Caruso, a lifelong resident of Old Bridge, began his soccer career when he was seven years old and he continued to compete in that sport through his junior year of high school.

But early that fall of his junior year, Caruso meandered onto the football field after soccer practice one day and he proceeded to kick a 50-yard field goal straight through the uprights.

“I figured, ‘Let’s just try it,’” Caruso said. “After that I was like, ‘Wait, why not?’ So I went to the coach.”

Caruso did finish the soccer season in 2016 as Old Bridge’s varsity goalkeeper.

But during a loss later that season in a tournament, Caruso was struck by how bored he felt.

“I walked off the field and was just like, ‘Eh, I’m done,’” he said. “I wanted to try something else.”

Caruso took his big leg to football, eradicated his boredom, and earned a kicking scholarship to the University of New Haven, a Division 2 program.

“The atmosphere is better in football (than in soccer). More people show up to games,” Caruso said. “I like the pressure.”

Now the pressure is really on, because Caruso is applying it to himself.

“I got four more years,” he said. “I want to keep that perfect record going.”

Metuchen High School wide receiver Dan Russell has followed the opposite path.

Russell started playing football in fifth grade and continued through high school, culminating with his selection to the South squad in this all-star game.

Unlike Caruso, though, Russell likely played his last football game that Monday night on the turf at Kean University.

Instead of playing college football, like most of the all-star players that night in Union, Russell will join the United States Marine Corps.

Football was Russell’s first love. And he felt that the Marine Corps teaches the same values.

“Discipline and brotherhood,” Russell said. “And if I’m going to join the military, I should join the best of the best.”

Russell plans on staying in the Marines for four years and then transitioning to law enforcement, either in the FBI or at the local level.

“That would just go hand in hand,” Russell said.

Phil Simms, the former New York Giants quarterback and longtime NFL analyst for CBS, has sponsored the North-South all-star game since 2014.

Simms attended the game Monday night, taking pictures, doing interviews, and talking with just about everyone. But more than anything, he loves hearing stories about how football shapes young men, like the one Russell told.

“I played 15 years in the NFL, and I’ve never showed up late for one thing, ever,” Simms said. “That’s what you learn, and it holds true.”

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Phil Simms New Jersey North/South High School All-Star Football Classic.

Here are the players from the region who participated in that first all-star game 40 years ago that was played at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway.

Steve Bethune, Matawan Regional High School; Glenn Edwards, Jackson Memorial High School;  Joseph Fischer, East Brunswick High School; Leif Hartkopf, Middletown High School South;  Mike Ibrahim, North Brunswick Township High School; Jim Jeffcoat, Matwan Regional High School; Nick Lubischer, Shore Regional High School; Pat Miller, John P. Stevens High School; Nick Sottiriou, John P. Stevens High School; Jeff Susan, South River High School.