Patience paid off with a season for the ages for Exeter’s Leo Brown
Wyomissing Physical Therapy Offensive Player of the Year
Leo Brown admits that until very late in his senior season he had never heard of David Gilmore or knew that the former Central Catholic star had lugged around the Berks County single-season rushing record for four long decades.
“I had no idea it was even a thing, I’m not gonna lie,” Brown said.
He had his sights set on a shinier object, Exeter’s program rushing record set just a year earlier by Jayden Zandier. Brown spent last season as an understudy for the All-State tailback, getting carries only once the Eagles had secured a big lead.
When Zandier walked across the stage last June with his 2,093 rushing yards, Brown joked with him that he was coming for that record.
“I didn’t think I was actually going to do it,” he confessed.
That would’ve been a lot to ask, for sure. You should know Brown didn’t start playing football until ninth grade; soccer had been his autumn sport of choice before that. And he spent a good chunk of his freshman season as a wide receiver, not a tailback.
Then, after one season, the sprinter decided to concentrate on sharpening his track skills and didn’t come out for football as a sophomore.
He was considered pretty raw as a running back entering his senior season; he had just 54 carries as a junior. It took him a while to get into the flow. His problem? He was he was too fast. He was always the fastest guy on the field, no matter the sport. He’s got 4.4 speed and was part of the school-record 4×100 relay team. That’s great when you’re running with the football, but it’s not all you need.
What Brown had to learn as a tailback was patience. That took time.
“Leo knows one speed,” said Exeter offensive coordinator JP Gibbons, “and that’s fast. We worked tirelessly to get him to slow down, to see what’s happening in front of him. Leo had to work on his patience to set up his blocks.”
“Leo’s so explosive and dynamic, it’s hard initially to realize sometimes it’s better to go slow before you go fast,” said Eagles coach Matt Bauer.
It’s Brown’s nature to go full speed ahead. He does that in the classroom, where he’s breezed through his courses with straight-A’s for four years.
“I try to hold myself to (high) standards,” said Brown, who plans to major in Mechatronics – which combines mechanical engineering, electronics, computer science – once he reaches college. “I want to score higher than the person next to me.”
“Whatever he sets his mind to,” Gibbons said, “he wants to do the best and be the best.”
After seeing Brown perform in the classroom, where he was always engaged and prepared, Brett Witmer understood why he was so successful on the football field.
“It’s easy for me to see the translation of how he approaches everything in his life,” said Witmer, Brown’s Civics teacher at Exeter. “He’s very self-motivated. He has a great work ethic. He translates that into everything he does.”
Berks single-season rushing leaders
| Leo Brown | Exeter | 2,444 | 2025 |
| David Gilmore | Central Catholic | 2,403 | 1983 |
| Jayden Zandier | Exeter | 2,093 | 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 |
Brown’s hard work paid off quickly. In Week 2, in his first full load as a starting tailback, Brown rushed for 151 yards. That was the first of a program-record 11 straight 100-yard rushing performances.
Six times he topped 200 yards. In the biggest game of the season, at undefeated Conestoga Valley in Week 9, he went for 305.
He entered his final game, against Bishop McDevitt in the District 3 Class 5A playoffs, needing just 9 yards to top Gilmore’s long-standing record. He soared past that on an early 20-yard run and finished the season with 2,444 yards, breaking that dusty old county record and solidifying his spot as Wyomissing Physical Therapy Offensive Player of the Year.
“When someone breaks a record set 42 years ago,” said Gibbons, “that person has to be a special person and have special people around him.”
What makes Brown’s story so unique, Gibbons said, is that he had the perseverance to stick it out even when he wasn’t getting much playing time. Many kids wouldn’t.
“If you’re not a starter by the time you’re a junior, what does that do to most kids?” he said. “Leo’s not like most kids. He used (being a backup) as an opportunity to grow and get better. He waited his turn and look what his patience did for him? It gave him a record that’s 42 years old.”
Offensive Player of the Year finalists
- Drew Engle, Twin Valley
- Justice Hardy, Wyomissing
- Michael Miller Jr., Muhlenberg
- Mason Sherry, Kutztown
- Cameron Small, Muhlenberg
- Mason Young, Wilson
Side-by-side comparison: David Gilmore vs. Leo Brown
| Gilmore | Brown | ||||||
| Att. | Yards | TDs | Att. | Yards | TDs | ||
| Bish. Hafey | 9 | 140 | 3 | Boone | 4 | 91 | 2 |
| Reading | 29 | 127 | 1 | Boyertown | 30 | 151 | 0 |
| Hamburg | 17 | 105 | 4 | Pl. Valley | 11 | 140 | 4 |
| Exeter | 23 | 257 | 5 | Mifflin | 20 | 206 | 3 |
| Muhl. | 26 | 123 | 2 | Lebanon | 5 | 122 | 2 |
| Weiser | 21 | 244 | 5 | Ephrata | 24 | 179 | 2 |
| Wyom. | 29 | 356 | 6 | Muhl. | 25 | 275 | 4 |
| Kutztown | 34 | 185 | 2 | Hempfield | 32 | 251 | 2 |
| Boone | 24 | 151 | 2 | Con. Valley | 29 | 305 | 2 |
| Sch. Valley | 17 | 158 | 3 | Elizabeth. | 30 | 156 | 2 |
| Holy Name | 34 | 171 | 1 | L. Dauphin | 22 | 269 | 2 |
| A-Cleona | 39 | 230 | 2 | Con. Valley | 28 | 220 | 3 |
| Littlestown | 34 | 156 | 1 | McDevitt | 17 | 49 | 0 |
| 336 | 2,403 | 37 | 281 | 2,444 | 28 |
Wyomissing Physical Therapy Player of the Week this season:
- Week 1: Beau Fegely, Fleetwood
- Week 2: Chase Eisenhower, Wyomissing
- Week 3: Adriel Baez, Muhlenberg
- Week 4: Leo Brown, Exeter
- Week 5: Michael Miller Jr., Muhlenberg
- Week 6: Cameron Small, Muhlenberg
- Week 7: Joel Ummarino, Exeter
- Week 8: Ryan Rementer and Greyson Miller, Twin Valley
- Week 9: Cameron Small, Muhlenberg
- Week 10: Lance Koenig, Governor Mifflin
- Week 11: Braylon Reinert, Exeter
- Week 12: Drew Engle, Twin Valley
- Week 13: Drew Engle, Twin Valley
