North Hunterdon twins bond for last time at Sunshine Classic
HOPEWELL TWP. » For most local players, the Sunshine Football Classic is the last time they will ever suit up together. But Friday night’s All-Star charity game is even more unique for a pair of North Hunterdon seniors.
Meet Connor and Jared McMahon, the identical twins who are among nine representatives from last fall’s North Jersey Section II, Group IV championship team.
The 22nd annual Sunshine Football Classic, sponsored by Fisher Capital LLC, pits the East against the West at TCNJ.
“When we won the sectional this year for North Hunterdon, that was a cool way to go out on top with each other,” Connor said this week during West team practice at Hopewell’s Ackerson Field. “And now just one more time in the All-Star game, just to have fun with it, put on the pads one more time. We talked about it in the car. We’re like, ‘Man, it’s definitely weird to put back on the shoulder pads and the helmet.’”
The twins, who turned 18 on March 20, started out playing tee-ball and soccer at a young age but ultimately found niches with lacrosse and football.
“Playing with somebody who’s really close with you, it’s something special,” Jared said. “We’ve had that connection in both lacrosse and football, and it’s just nice to know that you have somebody who’s always on the field with you.
“Our whole family just loves sports. We have an older brother who played sports all growing up. So I mean, we were right into sports as soon as we were able to run and do certain skills like catch a football or pick up a lacrosse stick.”
They played varsity football for three years. Connor has primarily been a defensive back while Jared is a wide receiver, so lining up 1-on-1 in practice has been a common source of fun.
But where the two really thrive — and their story together is only just beginning — is lacrosse. They were the top-two scorers for North Hunterdon this spring, combining for 100 goals. Jared is the school’s all-time leading scorer (190 points).
Both committed last fall to play at Division I Mount St. Mary’s next school year. Jared plays attack and Connor plays midfield.
“We’ve always wanted to play in college, we’ve always wanted to play at the highest level,” Jared said. “Going through the recruiting process we were like, ‘Hey, look, let’s try to get to the highest level to play against each other.’ We tried. There were a couple schools where we could’ve played against each other, but Mount Saint Mary’s just worked out really well for the both of us.”
With 72 of the 86 players in Friday’s game being from Mercer County schools, this is uncharted territory for the McMahons.
They are embracing their final high school experience as a new atmosphere with different kids, and a fun opportunity to build a team with other All-Stars.
And as always, the best part is they get to do so as brothers.
“You spend a lot of time together, so we’ve gotten used to each other over the years,” Connor said. “You bicker, you get annoying. It’s very competitive, it brings out the best in both of us. So being competitive with one another and having the same athletic ability really, really trains us to be as best as we can.”