QUARTERBACK RYAN CLARK HAS ALREADY CEMENTED HIS LEGACY AT DONOVAN CATHOLIC
TOMS RIVER – In 2016 the Donovan Catholic football program was at one of its lowest points in program history after the team finished 0-10 and had won just four games in three years.
With the program in need of a complete overhaul, the first and most important decision the administration made was to hire Dan Curcione as their new head coach. Curcione had just won the NJSIAA South Jersey Group III title at Wall, leading the Knights to a 10-2 record and their first state championship since 2002.
At Wall, Curcione took over a program that had won just eight games in the three years prior to his arrival. Three years later he had restored the Knights’ winning tradition and captured the school’s fourth state title in program history.
In hiring Curcione, Donovan Catholic was hoping he could work that same magic on a Donovan Catholic program that has never won a state title and has appeared in just one state final.
In his first season, 2017, Curcione inherited a young dual-threat quarterback named Ryan Clark. As a freshman starter Clark had suffered through the Griffins’ 0-10 season. He did, however, flash signs of the player he was to become and it was obvious he possessed an unlimited amount of talent that was still untapped.
“Ryan’s started every game at quarterback for me since I’ve been at Donovan Catholic,” said Curcione. “He’s offered us a big-play threat at the quarterback position and somebody we can count on week-in-and-week-out to run the team and run the offense. It’s going to be a little different next year without him being there because I’ve never coached a game or practice at Donovan Catholic without him being the starting quarterback. He makes the whole deal run and he’s done a fantastic job for us.”
A native of Howell, Clark played Pop Warner and then AYF (American Youth Football) in Howell but decided he wanted to attend Donovan Catholic as a freshman and help the struggling program get back on its feet.
“I just wanted to go somewhere where I could build a culture and leave behind a legacy,” said Clark. “And I felt Donovan Catholic was a good place to do that.”
As good as a quarterback Clark is on the field, Curcione feels he’s even a better person off the field.
“Ryan’s a great kid. He’s a better person than football player,” said Curcione. “And he’s a pretty darn good football player. He’s just great to be around; he’s great in the hallways with the other students and he works hard in school. He represents all the things you look for in a quarterback.”
Clark, however, had to endure that 0-10 season before he was able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
“Honestly, going 0-10 made me believe that nothing could be worse,” said Clark. “I felt like that was the worst it could possible get. So going forward after hitting rock bottom there was only one way to go.”
It was following Clark’s freshman year that Curcione came in and Clark’s decision to attend Donovan Catholic now looked a whole lot brighter.
“Coming from a state championship team to an 0-10 team was unheard of,” said Clark. “The fact that he believed in us and believed in the program was all the players needed to see to come here.
“He brought over new habits. We never really knew what brotherhood meant until he got here and he was big on that. He has all of our respect and he’s helped us come together as a group and find our way and slowly build the program to what it is today,” continued Clark.
As a sophomore Clark had a break-out season and made an immediate impact on a program that had won just four games in three years and led the team to four wins – the most since 2013 – and their first playoff appearance since 2013.
He completed 70-of-125 passes for 1,011 yards and seven touchdowns while rushing for 950 yards and 15 touchdowns on 142 carries for a 6.7 yards per carry average.
“Obviously 4-6 wasn’t the record we wanted, but granted we were playing with freshmen and sophomores going up against juniors and seniors all season long, “ said Clark. “But it showed us we could really do this and hang with these teams and if we stuck together we could accomplish the bigger goals. We made the playoffs and that was awesome and that was really the first sign of the change in culture that we were making.”
The Griffins improved to 7-4 with Clark calling signals his junior season, as the now 6-foot-1, 215 pounder was beginning to get recognized as one of the top quarterbacks in the Shore Conference after flying under the radar much of his stellar sophomore campaign.
During that 7-3 season, he was 72-for-36 passing for 1,013 yards and nine touchdowns with an additional 653 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns on 97 attempts for a 6.7 yards per carry average. With Clark under center the Griffins averaged 31.1 points per game – fifth in the Shore Conference – and he was a third-team All-Shore selection at quarterback.
Clark led the team to their second consecutive playoff appearance last season losing a heartbreaker to No. 3 seed Mater Dei in a first-round game. They held a 13-6 halftime lead and 21-20 lead with four minutes remaining in the game before falling, 35-21. Clark had 153 yards passing and 81 yards rushing and two touchdowns in the game.
“Obviously, we didn’t get the win we wanted but hanging with one of the top teams in the Shore Conference that had a bunch of DI guys that made it to the state championship really showed us we could do this. It helped us believe in ourselves and if we could believe in ourselves we knew we could get it done on the field.”
This season, the Griffins – ranked fifth in the Shore Conference – reeled off seven straight wins to open the season but suffered their first loss of the season to No. 4 and defending NJSIAA Non-Public, Group III champion Red Bank Catholic two weeks ago.
In their 27-16 loss to RBC, Clark completed 10-of-21 passes for 109 yards and a 19-yard touchdown pass and rushed for 81 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.
“We’re struggling just a little bit and haven’t been playing the best we can possibly be playing,” said Clark. “We’re really just trying to find ourselves again. Since the loss to RBC we’ve come together as a team and started to produce better practices trying to hit our stride for the playoffs.”
Clark was adamant when asked if their loss to RBC might’ve been a wakeup call for the team, “One hundred percent,” he said. “We played our worst game we could’ve possibly have played against them.
RBC brought a level of talent that we hadn’t faced all year and I think now we’re ready for it and know how to deal with it. It gave us a taste of the playoffs.”
The Griffins rebounded nicely from their only loss of the season, routing Lakewood, 48-0, for the team’s sixth shutout of the season and their eight win – the most wins in a season since 1992.
“That’s just another thing coach Curcione has changed over here at Donovan Catholic,” said Clark of his team’s eight wins. “And it’s going to keep evolving every single year.”
Clark played less than a quarter to give reserves playing time against an outmanned Piners team. But he still threw for 100 yards, including touchdown passes of 51 and 30 yards without a rushing attempt in an effort to keep him healthy for the playoffs.
For the season, he’s completed 64-of-110 passes for 882 yards and eight touchdowns with only one interception and has added 853 yards on the ground and another 14 touchdowns on 102 carries for an 8.4 yards per carry average.
In October Clark accepted a full scholarship to continue his academic and athletic career at Bryant University.
“I think it’s awesome for him,” said Curcione. “He took a visit there and fell in love with the place and the coaching staff. For a senior who’s looking to play college football it’s great to see that weight lifted off his shoulders and that he finally found his home and he knows where he’s going to be; he’s earned it. Earning a scholarship is not something that’s very easy and he’s done everything he needed to do to earn it.”
With the regular season over, Clark is now focused on the playoffs.
“We’re just taking it one game at a time,” Clark said about making a playoff run. “Saint John Vianney is all that’s on our minds right now. If we produce we’ll take it to the next game.”
Unlike the past two seasons entering the playoffs, there’s some degree of expectation for the Griffins as they prepare for their first-round game.
“It’s where we want to be,” said Curcione. “There’s expectations not only for Ryan but for the whole team. The kids realize there’s a higher expectation now, it’s not just to get there. We’re looking to take the next step and we believe we’re going to be there for many years to come. We want this year to be the first year to take the next step and win in the playoffs.”
Fourth-seeded Donovan Catholic has a week off before hosting No. 5 seed Saint John Vianney in a NJSIAA Non-Public, Group III first-round game on Friday, Nov. 15.
“I know he has,” said Curcione when asked if Ryan has established his legacy at Donovan Catholic. “I’m sure he holds every offensive record for a quarterback at Donovan Catholic and his legacy is pretty set in stone. We’d like to add one more thing to it and that’s make a run in the playoffs. But no matter what, he’s a guy that’s going to be remembered as an all-time great at the school, no doubt about that.”
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