Exeter’s Joel Ummarino: ‘He just game-wrecks’
MikeDragoSports.com Lineman of the Year
Joel Ummarino got tossed around like a tackle wheel as a freshman at Exeter. He was going against bigger, older linemen each day in practice, a couple of whom are now playing at the Division I level.
He dutifully took his lumps, he learned, and he lived in the weight room, vowing to become as big and strong as those other guys so he could soon be on the delivery end of punishing blocks and crunching hits.
He developed a mean streak, too. The guys who lined up opposite him soon found that out.
“My goal on defense is to ruin the game,” the 6-2, 260-pound senior bluntly says.
He ruined a few guys’ Friday nights, that’s for sure.
He was so good on both sides of the ball in a 42-12 midseason win against unbeaten Muhlenberg that he earned Player of the Week honors – over teammate Leo Brown, who went off for 275 yards and four touchdowns that night.
A couple weeks later, against another unbeaten foe, he tormented Conestoga Valley quarterback Sawyer Esbenshade, sacking the league’s best passer four times.
“Physically,” says Exeter line coach Chris Badinger, “he just game-wrecks.”
In a program that prides itself on the string of top-shelf linemen it has produced over the last decade Ummarino is right at the top. Only Michal Menet, a three-time All-State pick who went on to play at Penn State and with several NFL teams, has produced a better resume.
“By far, Joel’s the smartest, toughest and best leader we’ve ever had up front,” says Badinger, in his sixth season coaching linemen at Exeter.
The numbers don’t lie. Brown ended his season with 2,444 rushing yards, breaking a 42-year-old county single-season record. A few weeks earlier, when he crossed the 2,000-yard milestone, Exeter became the first team in Berks history to produce 2,000-yard rushers in consecutive seasons.
Ummarino, named MikeDragoSports.com Lineman of the Year, was a huge part of that, of course. Not only because of his dominant blocking – he earned 96% blocking grade and 50-plus pancake blocks – but because of his leadership and know-how.
The offensive line, more than any other unit in football, works together as one like the fingers on a hand. Ummarino was the thumb, indispensable.
“Physically, he’s always had it,” says Badinger, who coached Ummarino in junior high, ‘but was always his (football) IQ that separated him. Joel can tell you what all five of our linemen are supposed to do (on each play). He can tell you what our quarterback is doing, what our running backs are doing.”
There were critical, short-yard situations this year when the offense would come to the sideline during a timeout. More than once Ummarino suggested a play and the Eagles went with it.
Even more often it was Ummarino calling audibles at the line of scrimmage. That’s practically unheard of at this level, to allow a center to change a play, but Eagles coach Matt Bauer and his staff had such faith in Ummarino’s decision-making and understanding of the game that he was given the green light.
“I’ve never given that (option) to any lineman,” said Bauer, who has run the program for 16 seasons.
“It was kind of fun knowing I could check (plays),” Ummarino said. “I’m proud that they had a lot of confidence in me.”
Ummarino is the second straight Exeter player to earn MikeDragoSports.com Lineman of the Year; last year it was Logan Wegman, who’s now playing at the U.S. Naval Academy. The previous three recipients are playing at Penn State: Caleb Brewer (2023) and Jven Williams (2021 and 2022).
Ummarino started two seasons at center; he never once allowed a sack.
He was a three-year starter on defense. He was moved inside to tackle this season so that he could cause even more havoc inside, and better help stuff in the interior run game. Exeter finished No. 1 in the 37-team Lancaster-Lebanon League in rushing defense, No. 3 in total defense.
Ummarino had a team-leading 15 tackles for loss, record 7.5 sacks, had 15 QB hurries and forced three fumbles.
“Joel is an undeniable force . . . a menace,” said Exeter assistant coach Nick Beisker. “He’s the heartbeat of our defensive unit.”
He often found himself double-teamed, and saw opponents try to run away from him.
“That was more of a compliment than anything,” he realized.
Ummarino made a clean sweep in the Section 2 all-league voting, where he was named Offensive Lineman of the Year, Defensive Lineman of the Year and Outstanding Lineman in Section 2. He was even a first-team all-league pick as a long snapper.
“That didn’t happen by chance,” Badinger said of Ummarino’s development. “That happened because he made that happen.”
“I knew without the hard work in the weight room, out on the field, that would never have happened,” Ummarino said of his various honors.
Among the highest of his season was seeing Brown become Berks’ all-time rushing leader. Linemen don’t get their names in the record book but they take immense pride when they’re part of something like that.
“I think we were happier that he broke the record than he was,” Ummarino said. “Obviously, without him, there’s no us; without us, there’s no him. It was a great accomplishment, not only for him but for all of us.”
Lineman of the Year finalists
- Eric Bennethum, Berks Catholic
- Andrew Bresnahan, Wilson
- Michael Glover, Wilson
- Grey Miller, Twin Valley
- Andre Osborne, Exeter
- Zavier Otero, Muhlenberg
