Boasting a 6-0 record for the first time in more than four decades, Leechburg has had a dream start to the season, but the reach of that dream extends beyond just the team’s players and coaches.
“Listen, we have great fan support,” coach Randy Walters said. “We have a saying, ‘TDTM.’ That stands for ‘Their dream through me.’ And it permeates through the community.”
In recent seasons, that community has seen the Blue Devils emerge from a funk that had lasted several decades. Between 1993 and 2020, Leechburg never finished with a winning record. But its fortunes began to change when Walters took over in 2020. After going 3-4 in Walters’ first season, the Blue Devils went 9-3 and earned their first playoff win since 1978. The team went 7-4 and 6-5 the past two seasons, making the playoffs both years.
Now in his fifth season, Walters has guided Leechburg to its first 6-0 start since 1980. The Blue Devils, ranked No. 4 in WPIAL Class 1A by the Pittsburgh Union Progress, are one of only four unbeaten teams in Class 1A and one of just 14 teams in the entire WPIAL without a loss. The Blue Devils will try to improve to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in Eastern Conference action when they travel to play Frazier (1-5, 0-3) on Friday.
“There’s a lot of buzz,” Walters said. “It’s hard for me as an adult not to get caught up in it, and these are kids.”
It has been difficult for Leechburg’s opponents to catch quarterback Jayden Floyd, who as one of the WPIAL’s top dual-threat quarterbacks is having a tremendous senior season. Floyd ranks among the WPIAL leaders in rushing (863 yards) and rushing touchdowns (19), while also passing for 630 yards and four touchdowns. Floyd torched Serra Catholic by running for 269 yards and four scores and lit up Jeannette by rushing for 223 yards and five touchdowns. He’s averaging 13.3 yards per carry on the season.
“The toughness is showing and he’s a great athlete. He’s not going to blow people away with his 40 time, but not many people are catching him, either,” said Walters, adding that Floyd has improved a lot as a passer this season.
After running for 1,155 yards and passing for 1,469 yards his junior season, Floyd can now become only the third WPIAL quarterback in history to register multiple regular seasons with 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 passing yards. Skyy Moore, who now plays for the Kansas City Chiefs, did it at Shady Side Academy, while Fort Cherry junior Matt Sieg can join the 1,000/1,000 club for the third season in a row this fall.
Floyd may be the star and get the most press clippings, but he’s far from the only big contributor on the team. Another is tight end-linebacker Jake Cummings, another of the team’s six seniors.
“I don’t know who the third amigo is, but they’re the two amigos,” Walters said.
Cummings, an all-conference pick on both sides of the ball a season ago, has a team-leading 29 catches for 352 yards and five touchdowns while adding another 257 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. And Walters said that Cummings’ importance to the team goes beyond just the great stat lines.
“He’s an unbelievable leader and the hardest working kid we have,” Walters said. “He does things the right way. I had Braylan Lovelace (now at Pitt), who is an unbelievable human being, and Jake is the same. He never comes off the field defensively. He’s tough as nails. He and Jayden, we’d be in a lot of trouble without the two of them.”
Leechburg would also be in a lot of trouble if it didn’t have an outstanding offensive line. Luckily for the Blue Devils, they have one of those, one which has allowed the team to average 264 rushing yards per game. With four starters back from last season, that line is experienced. And the fact that all five starters this season are juniors bodes well for the future. The group consists of center Brady Shearer, tackles Philup Rearick and Ben Talarico, and guards Jayden Rosenberger and Geno Granata.
“They’re really coming together,” Walters said. “They worked hard in the weight room and they meshed wonderfully together. They’re communicating well and it all starts with Brady Shearer. They’re doing a great job and they’re only going to get better.”
Another key player that line has been opening up holes for is Timmy Andrasy, a junior running back who is second on the team in rushing with 434 yards and five touchdowns.
While the Leechburg offense has been fantastic in averaging 40.1 points per game, the defense has also been terrific in giving up 12.6 points a game. Only Serra Catholic has scored more than 14 points against the Blue Devils, and that came in a 48-27 Leechburg win.
Despite the unbeaten start, Leechburg is still considered a longshot to win a conference title for the first time since 1979. That’s because Class 1A behemoth Clairton also resides in the Eastern Conference. The Bears are also 6-0 and have done it while outscoring opponents, 273-7. Leechburg hosts Clairton on Oct. 11 in what could be a battle of unbeatens.
But Walters stresses that his team is taking it one game at a time, which means the focus is currently on Friday’s opponent, Frazier.
Frankly, likely no one outside of the program expects Leechburg to end a decades-long conference title drought or win a WPIAL title for the first time since 1966. But few would have predicted that the Blue Devils would be 6-0 at this point, either, and that’s where the team finds itself as the calendar flips to October.
Walters spoke about “TDTM” — their dream through me. And you can bet that throughout the Leechburg community, thoughts of a dream season are still alive.
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.