Sports

New Jersey rocker Bon Jovi’s son gives Poly lacrosse a good name

Poly Prep's Jesse Bongiovi tries to gain possesion of the ball.

Poly Prep’s Jesse Bongiovi tries to gain possesion of the ball. (Denis Gostev)

Jesse Bongiovi isn’t a rock star on the Poly Prep boys lacrosse team. In the faceoff circle, he’s just another player.

Just another player who happens to be the son of rock star and New Jersey native Jon Bon Jovi.

Bongiovi has chosen to do the dirty work for the Blue Devils, manning the faceoff, using his free periods to practice and playing in an indoor lacrosse league during his time off in the winter.

“It’s a grueling position,” coach Brooks Sweet said of his junior specialist.

Many don’t show the same dedication.

“He’s a hard-nosed kid,” Sweet said. “To his credit, he’s in shape and he’s a tough kid. He’s a guy who can control a lot of these games for us.”

Despite being the son of one of the most successful rockers of the past 25 years, Bongiovi, 17, never has been treated like a pampered celebrity child by his father or mother, Dorothea Hurley.

“He has an unbelievable commitment that I look up to,” Bongiovi said of his father. “He’ll come home Saturday mornings, I’ll sleep in and he’ll be like, ‘I just ran five miles. What did you do today?’ … He’s always working hard at musical stuff. It inspires me to come out here and work hard.”

Bongiovi’s own efforts have paid off on the lacrosse field. He is the starting faceoff specialist for Poly Prep, the defending NYSAISAA champion. Bongiovi, who admits to playing a little guitar, has won more than 50 percent of draws to start the year. He scored his first career varsity goal for Poly (1-2) in a 12-6 loss to Fieldston on Friday. Bongiovi hopes to lead the team to another state crown.

“He wants Jesse to excel in it,” Sweet said of Bongiovi’s famous father. “He wants Jesse to do the right thing.”

Bongiovi began playing the sport in seventh grade and learned the position as a freshman after he volunteered when a teammate got hurt. He was called up from the junior varsity last year to replace an injured player.

“I kind of honed in some skills last year, but it’s a different level playing up on varsity and doing the faceoffs,” he said. “There has been a bit of a learning curve.”

His parents have tried to keep Jesse and their other three children out of the spotlight. Both parents declined comment, wanting to keep the focus on their son.

Bon Jovi is a sports enthusiast and former owner of the Arena Football League’s Philadelphia Soul. His son also plays football at Poly Prep.

Bongiovi, who lives with his parents in SoHo, is appreciative of the support he gets from home. His dad comes to his games regularly.

“Most people out on the street don’t really know who I am,” Bongiovi said. “They know my dad. Most of the time, I just get to be a normal 17-year-old kid.”

His classmates were a bit shocked at first by his famous family, he said, but famous children are not uncommon at Poly Prep. All of Meryl Streep’s children went to the Bay Ridge private school with the sprawling campus. “Sopranos” star Steve Schirripa sent both his daughters there and Mets reliever John Franco’s son J.J. was a star baseball player at Poly.

Fieldston’s Sam Healy said he knew Bon Jovi’s son went to Poly Prep, but didn’t know he was facing off against him.

“He was good,” Healy said. “He was definitely faster on the clamp than I was.”

Bongiovi doesn’t want the fact that he is the son of a celebrity to take attention away from his teammates.

“He’s just a fun-loving guy,” Poly star Hugo Francis said. “He likes to make jokes, hang out. He’s just a nice kid overall.”

He is also a very driven young man not afraid to get his hands dirty in the faceoff circle.

“My dad is always a big believer in working hard,” Bongiovi said. “If you work hard, you kind of get what you work for.”

jstaszewski@nypost.com