Exeter’s Jayden Zandier closing in on single-season rushing, TD marks
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Exeter’s best shot to run down Bishop McDevitt Friday is to clear running lanes for Jayden Zandier and let him do his thing.
You don’t need to break down hours and hours of game film to know the All-State tailback is the key to the game, for both Exeter and McDevitt.
“Any time you go up against a 2,000-yard rusher you’ve gotta find a way to stop him,” said Bishop McDevitt coach Jeff Weachter, whose team meets the Eagles in the District 3 Class 5A championship game at 7 at Elco.
Stopping the Lancaster-Lebanon League rushing leader is easier said than done. No one’s been able to do it.
Only unbeaten New Oxford, in a district quarterfinal, was able to keep him out of the end zone. He’s scored at least two touchdowns in each of the Eagles’ other 12 games and has scored four or more three times.
That was the case last week when he ran for 263 yards and four scores in a 48-14 win at Conestoga Valley.
That gave the 6-2, 180-pound senior 34 touchdowns, fourth-most in Berks history in a single season. Nick Singleton of Gov. Mifflin set the record three years ago with 44.
Zandier, who didn’t start his first game at running back until the fourth game last season, has 54 career touchdowns, which ranks No. 15 all-time in Berks.
His fifth 200-yard game of the season pushed his season rushing total to 2,089 yards, second-most in history.
The record of 2,403 was set 41 years ago by David Gilmore of Central Catholic. Zandier became just the fifth in Berks history to reach 2,000 yards.
“I’m not sure we’ve faced anyone quite like him,” allowed Weachter, whose team plays in the star-studded Commonwealth Division of the Mid-Penn Conference, which cranks out more Division I players than any league in the district. “We’ve faced some quick backs, but he’s kind of got a combination: He’s a bigger kid, real patient with good speed and good quickness.”
Zandier was fast last year when he rushed for 1,358 yards and scored 19 touchdowns but he bulked up in the offseason and clearly gained a step. Allow him to turn upfield on a sweep and few people are going to catch him.
Six of his touchdowns have come from 50 yards or longer; 15 have come from outside the 30.
Zandier is averaging 11.7 yards per carry, one of the highest figures in Berks history. Only three times has a Berks back had as many as 100 carries in a season and finished with a higher average: Singleton did it twice, Berks Catholic’s Cooper Lutz once.
Zandier could be much closer to Gilmore’s single-season record but he didn’t get many touches in the early weeks of the season. He carried just eight times in the season-opener against Daniel Boone, seven times the next week against Boyertown. He had four carries against both Pleasant Valley and Lebanon.
The Eagles were ahead by so much, and so quickly, in those games he didn’t need to do much heavy lifting.
Zandier didn’t get 20 carries in a game until Week 7 when he rushed for 217 yards and four touchdowns in a wild shootout against Muhlenberg. He’s been used more often in the bigger games since, with 27 carries and 191 yards against Conestoga Valley in Week 9, 27 carries and 147 yards against New Oxford and 26 carries last week in a district semifinal.
He has rushed for 100 yards 10 times in 13 games.
Zandier also has a pair of touchdowns on kickoff returns, one on an interception return and one on a pass reception.
Berks single season rushing leaders
| David Gilmore | Central Catholic | 2,403 | 1983 |
| Jayden Zandier | Exeter | 2,089 | 2024 |
| Nick Singleton | Gov. Mifflin | 2,059 | 2021 |
| Cameron Small | Muhlenberg | 2,051 | 2024 |
| Tyler Emge | Fleetwood | 2,000 | 2014 |
| Angel Cruz | Conrad Weiser | 1,885 | 2012 |
| Jason Reinhart | Muhlenberg | 1,883 | 1998 |
| Joe Rys | Central Catholic | 1,835 | 2010 |
| Rodney Gillin | Wilson | 1,829 | 2010 |
| Brian Roth | Boyertown | 1,825 | 1977 |
| Eric Nangle | Exeter | 1,814 | 2021 |
| Julio Pellegrini | Central Catholic | 1,814 | 1974 |
| Pete Gilmore | Wilson | 1,810 | 1999 |
| Nate Romig | Daniel Boone | 1,805 | 2005 |
| Isaac Ruoss | Gov. Mifflin | 1,789 | 2017 |
| Jeff Niedrowski | Wilson | 1,788 | 1991 |
| Dave Dykie | Boyertown | 1,781 | 1990 |
| Ben Ortiz | Muhlenberg | 1,748 | 2013 |
| Marc Panepinto | Boyertown | 1,705 | 2002 |
| Rodney Gillin | Wilson | 1,704 | 2011 |
| Zacc Groff | Wilson | 1,702 | 2008 |
| Mel Fegely | Muhlenberg | 1,691 | 1993 |
| Nick Singleton | Gov. Mifflin | 1,690 | 2019 |
| Dan Ciabattoni | Holy Name | 1,688 | 2008 |
| Nate Reinhart | Central Catholic | 1,679 | 2006 |
Berks single season touchdown leaders
| Nick Singleton | Gov. Mifflin | 44 | 2021 |
| Jason Reinhart | Muhlenberg | 39 | 1998 |
| David Gilmore | Central Catholic | 37 | 1983 |
| Jayden Zandier | Exeter | 34 | 2024 |
| Pete Gilmore | Wilson | 33 | 1999 |
| Nick Singleton | Gov. Mifflin | 32 | 2019 |
| Isaac Lutz | Berks Catholic | 32 | 2015 |
| Freddy Caruso | Holy Name | 32 | 2010 |
| Cooper Lutz | Berks Catholic | 31 | 2017 |
| Nate Romig | Daniel Boone | 31 | 2005 |
| Alex Auston | Wilson | 31 | 1997 |
| Angel Cruz | Conrad Weiser | 30 | 2012 |
| Alex Anzalone | Wyomissing | 30 | 2012 |
| Gregory Lord | Wyomissing | 30 | 2006 |
| Nate Romig | Daniel Boone | 30 | 2005 |
| Isaac Ruoss | Gov. Mifflin | 29 | 2017 |
| Andy Cavorsi | Gov. Mifflin | 29 | 2000 |
| Kevin Dice | Wyomissing | 29 | 1983 |
| Tyler Emge | Fleetwood | 28 | 2014 |
| DJ Robinson | Conrad Weiser | 28 | 2010 |
| Rodney Gillin | Wilson | 28 | 2010 |
| Iggy Reynoso | Wilson | 27 | 2017 |
| Wilson Fontanez | Gov. Mifflin | 27 | 2014 |
| Edward Shuttleworth | Schuylkill Valley | 27 | 2014 |
| Tommy Grabowski | Wyomissing | 26 | 2021 |
| Iggy Reynoso | Wilson | 26 | 2016 |
| Rodney Gillin | Wilson | 26 | 2011 |
| Joey Rys | Central Catholic | 26 | 2010 |
| Julio Pellegrini | Central Catholic | 26 | 1973 |
