Bonner’s Haley brothers have large rooting section

MOST HIGH SCHOOL quarterbacks would be content to achieve a 50 percent success rate.

Jim Haley believes he can double that.

Wait, we're not talking passes. We're talking identifications of family members, and Haley, a 6-2, 175-pound junior who plays QB and safety at Monsignor Bonner High, believes he could go 91-for-91.

"Probably . . . On a good day . . . If I really tried, I could name all 91," he said, smiling.

It's impressive enough that Haley, who shares grid importance with his brother, Joe, a senior tight end and linebacker, is one of 10 children. Check this out: The boys' mother, the former Rose Moran, is the 10th of 15 children. The other members of the clan have produced 71 offspring ranging in age from 4 to 37. So far, those 71 have blessed the world with 20 more kids.

"In our family," Rose Haley said, "someone's always expecting."

Back to Joe.

"Jim said he can name all 91? I doubt I could. Probably about three-quarters of them."

Through five games this season, Jim has passed 45-for-94 for 721 yards and six touchdowns for coach Tom Oropeza. Joe owns nine catches, along with 142 yards and one score.

Their older brothers - Dan, 22; Ryan, 20; and Mike, 17 - limited their contributions to baseball. Jim (shortstop) and Joe (rightfielder) also are mainstays in that sport and last spring helped Bonner advance to the Catholic League final.

(Their cousin, Rich Young, who has even more relatives, was the first baseman. Another, Gabe DiBernardino, is a football assistant at rival Cardinal O'Hara. Another, Matt Steven, who's blind, generated national headlines in 2009 when, as a designated foul shooter for a high school-level CYO team, he hit two late free throws to win a game.)

The other Haley kids are Bridget, 15; Luke, 13; Chris, 12, Shawn, 9; and Patrick, 7.

Notice anything?

"Being the only girl has its ups and downs, I'm sure, for Bridget," Joe said. "We know we have to treat her like a princess, and we do."

The boys' father, Dan, played quarterback for Bonner (class of '78). He has one brother, Tom, and his family includes only two kids. Mom earned her diploma at next-door Archbishop Prendergast. In the current generation, 11 family members are enrolled at those schools (seven at Bonner), and Rose said 24 preceded them. Her two oldest siblings, she added, were partial to West Catholic, but the other 13 were Friars or Pandas.