Nick Leyden has been playing football for Pioneer Valley since his freshman year, and everything points to him having a great college career, too. He’s already seen inquiries from Oregon and Fresno State and hopes to play “anywhere [he] can get a scholarship”
The 17-year-old, 245-pound Leyden plays linebacker, along with tight end and “some fullback.”
As captain of the defense, Leyden “by far” leads the team in tackles, averaging 13 per game, according to Pioneer Valley assistant athletic director Rhett Carter.
A scholar athlete with a 3.7 GPA, Leyden was named the team’s Best All Around Athlete of the year.
Asked if anything stood out in his mind about this season, Leyden brought up the last game of the season (which the Panthers lost) as an example of the most fun the team has had.
So why was a loss the most fun?
“Because no one could feel sorry for themselves at the end, nobody could hang their heads,” Leyden said. “We played hard and don’t have anything to feel bad about.”
Carter agreed that there’s nothing to feel bad about, especially when you consider the team they played against, Oaks Christian, is the No. 1-ranked team in the county, has Joe Montana’s son as starting quarterback, and normally averages 500 or more yards a game.
Pioneer Valley held the stiff competition to 300 yards, made three interceptions, and forced all of the other team’s starters to play the entire game.
According to Carter, none of the Oaks Christian starters has played past halftime the entire season.
So, yeah, Oaks Christian might have won, but Leyden and the Panthers made them work for it.
This article appears in Dec 4-11, 2008.
