Aaron Ahr refused to give himself credit during the Autoland Classic that was played on July 18 at Kean University in Union.
In the third quarter, he drilled a long field goal to give the Middlesex County All-Stars the lead over the Union County All-Stars. It was his third 30-plus-yard field goal of the night at Alumni Stadium. Ahr was literally the difference in the game up to that point.
“I have to credit my blocking and the field goal unit as a hole,” he said. “They did most of the work. All I did was make the kick.”
The North Brunswick Township High School kicker would go on to make two more kicks, both extra points, over the remainder of the second half. He finished with 11 total points, three field goals and two extra points, to help spark Middlesex County’s 23-7 victory over Union County.
The annual all-star game between recent scholastic graduates from Middlesex County and Union County, which was known originally called the Snapple Bowl, raised funds for the Children’s Specialized Hospital in Mountainside and the Lakeview School of Edison, a program of the New Jersey Institute for Disabilities.
The victory resulted in a 16-10 lead in the series for Middlesex County.
And even though Ahr refused to give himself credit, the all-star game’s organizers wholeheartedly disagreed with him. They named him Most Valuable Player on the turf after the game.
Surrounded by cheering teammates and coaches, Ahr posed for pictures with the organizers. He almost even smiled.
But then during a series of postgame interviews with media outlets on every communications medium, from social media to television, Ahr repeated his selfless refrain like a seasoned professional athlete.
“It was really unexpected (to win MVP). I did not expect it at all,” Ahr said, laughing in disbelief.
“But it does feel great,” he added.
The 6-0, 180-pound kicker who doubles as a receiver who triples as a boys’ lacrosse standout, racking up 51 goals and 22 assists for the Raiders this past spring, is in fact still a human being, too. He likes winning MVP awards.
Even so, the recently graduated senior still brought credit back around to the teammates who made his award possible.
“The holder, the snapper, the line, everyone did their jobs,” Ahr said.
The all-star performance was a strong ending to a stellar athletic career for Ahr. He drilled 32 extra points and five field goals for the 10-2 Raiders in 2018, helping the team reach the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 5 sectional playoff championship game, which it lost, 6-0, to Sayreville War Memorial High School.
In addition to kicking, Ahr caught three touchdowns as a tall red zone target with long arms. In addition to football, he led the North Brunswick boys’ lacrosse team in scoring in 2019. He also scored more than 100 goals in his lacrosse career.
Yet despite his athletic achievements, Ahr is not going to play football or lacrosse at Middlesex County College. He is going to focus on his business major.
“I’ve just always been interested in that,” Ahr said.
Three of Ahr’s North Brunswick football teammates, cornerback Brandon Outlaw, outside linebacker Manny Herrera and outside linebacker Sean Breheney, joined Ahr in the Autoland Classic on July 18. They helped the Middlesex defense hold the Union offense to zero points in the second half.
They also helped North Brunswick transform from a 1-9 team in 2016 to a state sectional finalist in 2018.
“I learned don’t ever give up,” Outlaw said.
“We learned what it takes,” Herrera said.
Outlaw will attend the Jersey Coast Prep Academy, a postgraduate football program, next year with the goal of earning a collegiate scholarship. Herrera is still deciding between playing junior collegiate football for Lackawanna College or postgraduate ball at Jersey Coast Prep. Breheney is headed up to Marist College, in Poughkeepsie, NY, to play Division 1 collegiate football.
