Starting Lineup: Bulldogs’ Chase Herb has ‘all the tools,’ including a hammer
To recognize the top players in Berks County football MikeDragoSports.com has selected the “Starting Lineup,” a preseason All-Berks team that includes the top linemen, backs, receivers, linebackers, and specialists.
Players are selected based on past performance, expected performance this season and college potential. Two-way players were given special consideration.
One player will be introduced each day throughout the preseason, in random order (the players are not ranked). This is the fifth installment of the series.
Chase Herb, Wilson
| 6-1 | 175 | Senior | WR/S |
A day after Wilson’s title-clinching victory over Manheim Township last October, Chase Herb wasn’t feeling his best.
Time after time the night before he had thrown his lean body in front of a 195-pound Blue Streaks dump truck by the name of Declan Clancy.
“He was big and fast and strong, and I was hitting him every time,” said Herb, who played at 170 pounds as a junior, “and it felt like there was no damage being done.”
Clancy spent the last few years running over, and through, defenders across Section 1 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League; each of them paid a price.
Herb, who was in on a game-high 12 tackles that, did too.
He was a willing soldier and by midgame his hits began to take their toll, helping turn the tide. Herb and the Bulldogs contained the section’s Outstanding Back, enough so that they could pull ahead and eventually win, 34-16.
“But my body was hurting,” the senior safety admits now. “At the end of the game I really felt bad.”
Herb’s back now, a little stronger, a little faster, and with a plan to make his opponents feel the pain. He’s not a striking physical figure – his 6-1 frame doesn’t scream out football player – but it’s what’s inside that counts.
In his mind he’s a hulking 240-pound linebacker who wants opposing receivers to think twice before they stroll through his neighborhood to retrieve a pass; he wants them to high fee when they visit.
“He’s always been that hard hitter on our team,” said Wilson lineman Jesse Etchberger, who has played with Herb at Lincoln Park. “He’s just ready to go, hitting anyone with the ball. He was always like that.”
Herb covers receivers like a cornerback and plays the run like a linebacker, an effective combination that helped the Bulldogs rank No. 3 in the entire league last year in total defense and No. 2 against the run.
“He has that chip on his shoulder that you want in a football player,” said Wilson coach Doug Dahms. “He’s gonna go out and hit you and he’s not gonna back down from anybody. He’s a physical football player.”
Must be part of his DNA. His father Chris was an all-league safety for Wilson as a senior in 1996 for a team that went 10-2 and earned a Section 1 title. His uncle Shane, a senior five years earlier, played safety on Wilson teams that won District 3 championships in 1989 and 1990.
Chase was a linebacker coming up through the Wilson system; he has retained that seek-and-destroy mentality.
“I’ve always had the attitude that, if they come across the middle, I’ll make them pay,” he said. “I like having (players from) other teams look out for me (when they come across the middle). It sounds crazy, but I love hitting people.”
After being moved to safety before last season Herb wasn’t so sure of himself. It took a couple games to get comfortable at his new spot. Safety in Wilson’s system requires more than just brawn. It’s a thinking man’s spot and requires understanding the opponent’s offense and communicating with the defensive backs around you to make sure everyone’s on the same page.
“I think it came naturally, because I love defense and I love going through the progressions and helping my teammates get in the best positions so they can make plays,” he said. “I used to play quarterback when I was really little, so I think that helped.”
“He controls the field, talks to everybody, directs the coverages,” Dahms said. “There’s a big mental part to playing safety. Our safety has to control coverages and be aware of blitzes. And that’s what he did.”
Herb earned second-team all-league honors last season after recording 52 tackles, third on the team, with nine pass breakups, two fumble recoveries and a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown against Hempfield.
He has other roles. He’ll be on the field as a wide receiver when the Bulldogs use three-receiver sets. Last year he was the long snapper for punts; now he’ll be on the other end of that equation as the punter.
He picked up a javelin for the first time last spring and finished fourth at the county championship Firing Meet; his best throw that day of 152-3 topped all other underclassmen.
Herb’s not sure he wants to play college football; he’s on the fence about that. Dahms thinks he can, and at a high level.
“He’s tall, he’s lean, he hits, he’s fast,” Dahms said. “Very quick, aggressive, hard-nosed. He’s got all the tools.”
2025 Starting Lineup
| Logan Cammauf | Schuylkill Valley | RB/LB | Senior |
| Justice Hardy | Wyomissing | RB/WR/S/CB/KR | Junior |
| Chase Herb | Wilson | WR/S | Senior |
| Lebron Leaf | Governor Mifflin | QB/LB | Senior |
| Cameron Small | Muhlenberg | RB/S | Senior |
