Bullish Penn State recruit Caleb Brewer has put it all on the line at Wyomissing
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Caleb Brewer took a look in the mirror at midseason and didn’t like what he saw.
Sure, his Wyomissing football team was unbeaten and ranked No. 2 in the state but he knew it wasn’t at its best.
“I wasn’t happy with the way our team was playing,” said the senior two-way lineman. “I needed to set an example for how the rest of the team should be playing.”
The 6-5, 275-pound Brewer did that, and it has been noticeable. Over the second half of the season, including in the Spartans’ only loss, at Cocalico, Brewer has been a destructive force from his spot at nose guard.
The Penn State recruit is wreaking havoc inside and chasing other plays down in the backfield or off the edge. He regularly collapses the pocket and has the speed to chase faster quarterbacks out of bounds.
“He’s become a real force,” said Wyomissing coach Bob Wolfrum. “He chases plays down from the back side. He chased that Quaker kid down a couple times, and that kid can move pretty well.”
Marcus Quaker plays quarterback for West Perry. He’s fast and elusive and made the Mustangs’ high-powered offense go.
He was on the run throughout Wyomissing’s 42-14 victory Saturday in the District 3 Class 3A championship game. Brewer flushed him from the pocket several times.
“I don’t think he wanted to get hit,” Brewer said matter-of-factly.
The Spartans (11-1) changed their trajectory following a humbling 34-14 loss at Cocalico in Week 7. They got more focused at practice, eliminated mental mistakes in games, and have begun to dominate opponents the way they had the last three years, when they reached the PIAA championship game twice and came within a heartbeat of a third trip last season.
They’ll go into Friday’s state quarterfinal against District 4 champ Danville (12-1) favored to make it to a state semifinal for the fourth consecutive season – unprecedented in Berks football history.
Brewer is a big reason why. He’s been a driving force on a defensive unit that has again become dominant. The Spartans have forced 12 turnovers during their five-game winning streak. They haven’t allowed a first-quarter score in 10 weeks; they have allowed just one first-half score in their last five games.
Over the last three games they have allowed four touchdowns – and scored three, on interception returns by Justice Hardy, Collin Niedrowski and Chase Eisenhower.
“I realized about halfway through the season that I really needed to step it up if I wanted us to go far,” Brewer said of his marked improvement on defense. “I feel like I really need to make a difference.”
Wolfrum says he has.
“He’s going 100 percent on both sides of the ball and he’s willing to play hard (on defense) even when the play goes away from him,” Wolfrum said. “He’s learned down to run down the line instead of getting upfield, and he makes a lot of plays that way, (which) you wouldn’t expect a big guy like that to do that.”
Brewer isn’t your ordinary ‘big guy.’
He lean like a wrestler, which he is: He went 24-2 as a junior at 285 before a fractured scaphoid bone in his right wrist (from a football injury) ended his season and required surgery. He won 35 bouts and earned a district silver medal as a sophomore.
Brewer has become a workout freak. He played last season at around 285 but wanted to be able to increase his stamina and make more plays this season so he cut about 10 pounds in the offseason.
“(Former NFL lineman and Spartans guard) Ross Tucker was telling me he wished he had played his senior season 10 pounds under what he was,” Brewer said. “On film, coaches aren’t gonna see how much you weigh, they’re gonna see how well you play. If I’m a lot faster and more athletic, I can make (more) plays. I want to make big sacks and be fast and chase people down.”
Brewer’s summer workout plan was simple: Run until you pass out.
He would attend the Spartans’ morning workouts, hit the gym for 2-3 hours to lift, then head to Wyomissing’s turf field to train on his own, running hills and executing drills to improve his footwork. The workouts ended only when it got too dark to see.
“He’s a workout junkie,” said Wyomissing line coach Steve O’Neil. “That (weight room is) his second home.”
“I’ve been obsessed this season,” admitted Brewer. “I’ve put everything into it.”
Brewer committed to Penn State in April. The Nittany Lions recruited him as an offensive lineman. They worked him out as a guard when he visited during the summer.
He was an all-league first-team pick as junior at tight end and nose guard and he’s sure to be a two-way pick when the Lancaster-Lebanon League announces its all-league teams next week.
He’s been such an impact player on defense that it has become his favorite side of the ball. He says he’d like to play defense when he heads to University Park in January. He may want to mention that when Penn State head coach James Franklin drops by the Brewer household Sunday.
Some high school defenses employ a smaller, quicker player at nose guard. Wolfrum likes to put Brewer over center because he can be such a disruptor.
“They always say if a nose man forces a double-team or (consistently) beats the center you’ve got a good chance to win the game,” Wolfrum said. “He, at the very least, asks for a double team. I don’t think there’s anybody leaving him one-on-one.”
“He’s doing a damn good job in there,” O’Neil said, “ ‘cause you can’t run away from him. How fast he can get down the sideline is pretty impressive.”
Brewer sharpened his game last season working one-on-one in drills with 6-5, 303-pound Jven Williams, who’s now at Penn State, and 6-4, 280-pound Pacen Ziegler, who’s playing at Sacred Heart.
This season he been going against juniors Jordan Gwyn and Max Tipton, who go 5-10, 255 and 6-2, 285, respectively. They push each other with daily hand-to-hand battles. That’s the plan, at least.
“There’s no pushing him, to be honest,” O’Neil said. “Jven had a hard time with him last year, and Pacen had a hard time with him. He’s such a damn bull.”
