Jayden Zandier continues to smash records as Exeter continues to win
2024 Berks football coverage presented by
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The deeper Exeter advances into the District 3 Class 5A Tournament, the more records Jayden Zandier breaks.
Last week the senior tailback became the Eagles’ single-season rushing leader, passing a record Eric Nangle set just three years ago.
A few weeks before that he became Exeter’s career rushing leader, erasing a mark Jesse Reider made more than 20 years ago.
With a strong performance Friday and an Eagles win over Conestoga Valley in a district semifinal Zandier will continue working his way onto the Top 10 lists of several Berks rushing and scoring categories.
With 159 rushing yards last week in a 24-21 quarterfinal win over New Oxford Zandier pushed his season rushing total to 1,826 yards; that eclipsed the Exeter record of 1,814, set by Nangle over 14 games in 2021. Zandier has played 12 games.
He’s now second in the Lancaster-Lebanon League in rushing, trailing only Muhlenberg’s Cameron Small, who ran for 2,051 yards in 11 games. Small’s season is now over.
Zandier is averaging 11.9 yards per carry, the best in the league among ballcarriers with 800 or more yards.
Zandier also leads the league with 30 touchdowns. He went past Nangle’s program record of 23 several weeks ago. Now he’s climbing up the all-time Berks charts.
Only 10 Berks players have scored 31 or more TDs in a season. Only three have scored more than 33: Gov. Mifflin’s Nick Singleton (44), Muhlenberg’s Jason Reinhart (39), and Central Catholic’s David Gilmore (37).
Zandier has scored a program-record 50 career touchdowns, which is tied for 19th most in Berks history.
Zandier’s 188 points this year are tied for 10th-most in a season in Berks history; with a couple more trips to the end zone he’ll move up to fourth on the list, behind Singleton, Reinhart, and Gilmore and tied with Wilson’s Pete Gilmore.
He’s also in the Berks Top 20 for career scorers with 308 points, a program record by more than 80 points.
What makes his rushing and scoring numbers all the more remarkable is that he didn’t move to tailback full-time until the fourth game of his junior season; he was a wide receiver at the beginning of last season.
Unlike most of the guys ahead of him on these various lists he saw very little playing time as a sophomore, when he scored one touchdown.
Also, he’s spent a good chunk of the last five games lined up as a Wildcat quarterback, after starting quarterback Riley Martinez suffered a lower leg injury in Week 7; Martinez hasn’t appeared in a game since.
Zandier could have matched the Eagles single-game rushing mark of 332 yards, set by Nangle in a 2021 district playoff game. Earlier this season, with the Eagles well ahead of Muhlenberg in the final minute, he elected to slide at the 20-yard-line after breaking into the secondary, in order to help run down the clock. Had he taken the ball into the end zone he would have tied Nangle’s mark.
As it is he has the second- and third-highest single-game rushing totals in program history: He went for 312 against the Muhls and 262 last season against Hempfield.
Zandier was an All-State pick last season when he rushed for 1,358 yards, scored 19 TDs, and averaged 10.7 yards per carry.
Berks single season rushing leaders
| David Gilmore | Central Catholic | 2,403 | 1983 |
| 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 |
| Jayden Zandier | Exeter | 1,826 | 2024 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Jayden Zandier | Exeter | 30 | 2024 |
| 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 |
