Not-so-little brother Ty Yocum has carved out his own path at Exeter

It couldn’t have been easy being the third Yocum brother to come through the Exeter football program.

Kyle and Chase set the bar awfully high.

They posted a string of scoring, rushing and passing records and were cornerstones in what has been one of the most consistent and successful programs in the Berks Football League over the past decade.

Ty, the youngest of member of the Yocum family, was undaunted; he has carved out his own niche.

Not as a quarterback, like his brothers, but as a standout at linebacker and as a force in the backfield. He’s often the lead blocker from his spot at H-back or tight end or the guy who gets the balls on third- and fourth-and-short.

“Ty was always the guy that you knew was going to put his head down and put his body out there, run right through someone,” said Chase, who’s six years older and coached Ty throughout youth ball. “He wasn’t always the fastest, or the tallest, but he was always the strongest, and he’d knock you on your butt, every play.”

Kyle Yocum was a critical building block when Matt Bauer began to put the pieces together at Exeter 13 seasons ago. He started at quarterback as a freshman for a team coming off back-to-back winless seasons. By his junior season the Eagles went 7-4 and qualified for the district playoffs for the first time in 13 seasons.

Kyle set program records for completions, TD passes and passing yards and went on to the University of Delaware, where he played quarterback, tight end and fullback, and was a co-captain as a senior.

Chase Yocum took the offense in a new direction and became one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in Berks history. He rushed for 1,196 yards as a senior, most ever by an Exeter quarterback and second-most at the time in program history; he set program records for completion percentage, passing efficiency and touchdowns scored.

Chase played at Shippensburg University, set a program rushing record for quarterbacks as a sophomore and scored a team-leading 10 TDs as a senior.

Ty Yocum has gone in his own direction. He was never a quarterback; he always preferred the physical part of the game, the blocking and tackling.

He’s quieter, more internal, and more intense than his brothers.

“Chase and myself are very big personalities,” said Kyle, who is eight years older. “Ty’s more introverted.

“He has always been a fierce competitor, a nose-to-the-ball, hit-you-in-the-face type of guy. He’s always had that fire of a competitor and fire as a football player. You can’t teach having fire; he’s always had it.”

The 6-1, 225-pound Yocum led the Eagles with nine touchdowns as a junior and was unstoppable in short-yardage situations, converting 16-of-16 opportunities.

He was second on the team with 70 tackles (in eight games), had four sacks, seven hurries and forced two fumbles.

He enters his final season as one of the pillars, along with linebacker J.R. Strauss, of an Eagles team looking for a return to the district playoffs.

Yocum and Strauss will be lined up inside for the first time (Strauss had played outside linebacker) and will make a formidable duo.

Opponents are advised to run toward the nearest sideline.

“Ty’s our heart and soul,” said Bauer. “He’s such a blue-collar, throwback type kid. You just don’t see a lot of those. He is our leader on and off the field. He holds people accountable. He’s like a player-coach.

“His football IQ is so high. He’s literally our defensive coordinator on the field. He aligns everyone. He knows everyone’s position. You can breath a little bit easier when he’s out there.”

That football IQ was developed at an early age. He was coached throughout youth ball by his dad, Randy Yocum, who earned all-state recognition as a linebacker at Schuylkill Valley. And, of course, he grew up watching Kyle and Chase; he was a ball boy for the Eagles when they played.

“I remember wearing Kyle’s old jersey,” Ty said. “Every time he’d score a touchdown, I’d run all the way down the field and catch the (PATs). He was very exciting to watch; he could do everything he wanted to do.”

Ty Yocum learned valuable football techniques from watching his brothers and by working with them; they also helped stoke his inner fire and pushed him to become the player he is.

“We pushed as hard as we could,” Chase said. “We were hard on him. He took it as motivation to work a little bit harder.”

“(They were) always there after a game, giving me good pointers about what I need to focus on, and what I did right,” Ty said, “then they’d really tell me what I did wrong.”

He accepted the criticism, was determined to get stronger and faster, and recently picked up his first Division I offer, from Merrimack College (in North Andover, Ma.)

“(If I’m more intense than Kyle or Chase) I’d like to think they’ve made me that way,” Ty said. “(In my mind) it’s always go-time. That’s always my mind set.”

“Ty epitomizes what it means to be the hardest worker in the room,” Kyle said. “I thought I worked hard; he puts me to shame. I’ve never seen a kid work that hard and want it that bad. It inspires me.”