JOYCE — There’s only so many places to hide while playing defense on an 8-man football field, but Crescent coach Brian Shimko is exhausting all avenues for senior Noah Leonard.
Leonard’s play on both sides of the ball has helped power the Loggers to a Class 1B Quad-District playoff spot, and Crescent is within a victory Saturday over Mary M. Knight of clinching the Northwest Football League West Division title.
Normally the man in the middle defensively for the Loggers, Shimko said he’s had to get creative with his senior linebacker’s spot on the field this season.
“We changed up our defense around to make sure Noah is in different spots,” Shimko said.
“We move him around against teams. We want to hide him as long as we can and have him show up at the last second. Teams have to go with what they’ve called and risk having him blow it up or audible out of it. And he still makes plenty of tackles even if they run to the complete opposite side.”
Shimko said Leonard is a throwback style of player, somebody that would have had little trouble turning out for Crescent teams through the decades.
“His style of play — I call him an old-school football player,” Shimko said. “He’s the type that you could plug in 10-20 or 30 years ago and he wouldn’t have any problems.”
Leonard has totaled 86 tackles, 35 solo, with 14 tackles for loss on the season — including seven sacks. And his offensive totals are just as impressive: Leonard has racked up 1,244 rushing yards on 115 carries — a 10.8 yard/per carry average with 22 touchdowns.
Shimko said Leonard leads by example and prides himself on reaching out to assist younger teammates as they strive to improve.
“He’s leading on offense, leading on defense and he does what I’ve seen our big guys that have graduated like McCabe Story, Neil Peppard and Wyatt McNeece did for him when he was an eighth grader or a freshman or sophomore — he takes the time to instruct them and make them better and better players,” Shimko said.
Freshman running back/linebacker Wyatt Lee, the next primary ball carrier and defensive leader in line for Crescent, has been a prime beneficiary this season, Shimko said.
“Small schools have to plan a year in ahead,” Shimko said. “And [Noah] has really taken to helping Wyatt pick everything up this year so he can make the transition [to starting] easier next year,” Shimko said.
“Wyatt hasn’t gotten a ton of carries this year because Noah is ahead of him, but his dad Buzz [a volunteer assistant with the Loggers] was on the Clallam Bay team in the 1990s that made it to the state championship], so the potential is there.
“Noah has brought him a long ways and Wyatt really looks up to him.
“I’m proud of him.”
