BY PAUL LIOTTI
BATAVIA — It’s pretty safe to say that the recent three-game stretch turned in by Ray Leach and his Batavia Blue Devils has never been done in the past.
In games on progressively larger stages, the Madden NFL ’18 numbers the senior running back turned in is nothing short of ‘OMG.’
Which, by the way, was probably the most uttered phrase last Saturday in the stands at Ty Cobb Field in Endicott during the Class B semifinal victory over Skaneateles. Mainly by the Skaneateles fans. Because Blue Devil fans are used to the show that Leach put on every weekend throughout the past four autumns.
Against Skaneateles, which came into the game as the state’s top-ranked Class B squad, Leach carried the ball 50 times, chewed up 474 yards and scored eight touchdowns.
Which came on the heels of his 417-yard, 451-total yard, 31-carry, eight-touchdown, 50-point night in the Far West Regional against Cheektowaga.
Which came one week after gaining 344 yards on 28 carries – six of which went for touchdowns – and scoring 36 points in the Class B Sectional final against Wayne.
So in three games over 14 days, Leach set both the Section V and New York State Record books on their ears, turning in performances that most running backs would love to have.
In a whole season.
Added all up, the three-game, eye-popping numbers look like this:
- 109 carries
- 1,235 rushing yards
- 1,269 total yards
- 22 touchdowns
- 134 total points
The last three games haven’t come out of the blue. After earning NYS Class B First Team All State accolades as both a sophomore and a junior, Leach has been the poster child for the undefeated and second-ranked Blue Devils squad this season, drawing headline after headline.
It’s not just the numbers that shocks fans of all ages. It’s how he does it.
VIEW MORE MIKE GENTILE PHOTOS HERE.
Take the 67-yard run last week against Skaneateles for example.
Facing first-and-21 after a penalty, the Lakers dared the Blue Devils to throw the ball, stacking eight players within four yards of the line of scrimmage. Taking the hand off, he bounced to the left side of the line when the hole closed. Trapped 15 yards downfield by two players he broke those tackles, cut back across the field and 10 yards later was stopped again by two players. Stopped dead in his tracks for a second time he broke free and raced downfield another 40 yards until being tripped up at the one-yard line.
That run summed up his power and speed.
But all this success hasn’t gone to his head. When an 18-year-old is faced with all this attention — being a very big fish in a very small pond — it can surely be a challenge to stay grounded and humble. But Leach is not only a once in a generation running back, he also demonstrates humility on and off the field.
“I know the reason that I’m able to do what I’m doing is because of (the players around me),” said Leach. “I mean we have other players on the team that can show out if they need to because we have threats all across the board.
“It’s nice to get all the publicity, but my linemen are the reason why I’m getting the publicity. They are the ones that should be getting the publicity because they put in a lot of work for me so I can do. They are the reason why I’m in the headlines.”
His teammates love his drive and ability to overcome staggering odds, to be there for them and to spread the accolades which he does at every opportunity.
“Ray does a great job of giving it back to the lineman when he’s successful,” said quarterback and captain Ethan Biscaro. “We all know Ray’s a special player, but we all know we still have to go out and do our job. He just makes it a lot easier on us.”
It’s never about the ‘me’ with Leach, who owns six Section V records and is tied for a seventh. No, for him, it’s about the ‘we’ that has gotten the Blue Devils to where they are right now.
“He knows that he is a very good football player, but he also knows the guys in front of him are doing a heckuva job,” said Batavia coach Brennan Briggs. “All the credit goes to him for being so humble and understanding the situation he’s in. He’s the first one that will preach that he’s getting the job done because of all the guys that are doing the work in front of him.”
Briggs and his staff have done an outstanding job mentoring and grounding this team, not only to deal with a perfect 12-0 record and a chance to play for the coveted state championship banner on Saturday, but to also work with the players to ensure that no one player is bigger than the whole, even if one of those players is a record-setting back to grabs all the headlines.
Ray Leach rumbles for 67 yards. pic.twitter.com/5lUzaqaGyU
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) November 17, 2018
“It really comes from him,” said the seventh-year head coach. “We’ve been together for four years and to be honest there were some instances in Ray’s younger varsity career he might point the finger (at someone else), but he has really grown and developed as a human being.
“I’m happy that the success is being shared with everyone because it’s really a big-time team game,” Briggs said.
And to think this season almost never came to pass for Leach.
On August 4, just 27 days before the season opener, Leach was in a fight with fellow classmate and former friend. While the reasons for the fight are unclear, the resulting assault left Leach stabbed 12 times, putting not only his football career in jeopardy, but his life as well.
Leach suffered stab wounds and lacerations to both his legs, arms, chest, abdomen and back.
“I knew (the stabbing) was going to jeopardize me missing the first couple of games,” Leach said. “Right up until the first game I knew it was going to be a game-time decision. I was doing the things it took to get back in and at one time opened up one of my cuts and set me back a week. Once the first game came I got cleared. They limited my carries, but then sat out the second game.”
He did get cleared to play in Week 1, and against Hornell in limited action he gained 88 yards and scored two touchdowns. He didn’t play in Week 2, but in Week 3 he returned against a Letchworth/Warsaw team that had shut out its first two opponents. He gained 182 yards from scrimmage (174 rushing on 19 carries) and scored four touchdowns in the 40-0 rout and things looked to be back to normal.
“It was very difficult to come back from a pain perspective,” he said. “I had a lot of pain in my leg because I had nerve damage (in the right thigh), and every time I cut it would hurt a lot, but I knew I had to get (my legs) stronger. It’s not completely healed, but it’s up there. Every once in a while I feel it but it’s good enough to where I can play the way I’m supposed to.”
And playing the way he’s supposed to means playing every down on both sides of the ball. As an anchor to a linebacker corps, he terrorizes his opponents from the defensive side as well, just like he did to Skaneateles, making numerous tackles and picking off a pass deep down the field which turned the tide third quarter.
“I was a little exhausted after Skaneateles after carrying it 50 times, but the line took a lot of load off my shoulders and to be honest I wasn’t as tired as I should have been carrying the ball that much. They made it easy for me,” he said.
#34 Ray Leach rush TD. PAT by #80 Ben Paserk good. @Batavia_BHS 7 @SkanFootball 0 pic.twitter.com/sjHycvJFBn
— John Likanje (@jml5798) November 17, 2018
Leach, who has local Division III schools drooling and has gotten looks from the University at Buffalo, Albany and University of New Hampshire, isn’t sure where he will be next August. According to Briggs, once the season is over and the Division I schools really gear up their recruiting phase, more schools will come calling.
“The Division III schools around here really want him, but I think they are waiting until the Division I schools finish their recruiting to see if he’s still available,” Briggs said. “He will land somewhere for sure.”
In sports, there’s always the comparison factor; measuring the performance of one player against those that came before.
Leach runs with power, racking up untold yards-after-contact, but is also nimble enough to make even the most experienced defender miss. If there was a cross between Hall of Famers Earl Campbell and Barry Sanders, it would be Ray Leach. Coincidentally, Leach wears No. 34, the same number Campbell wore when he punished runners in The League back in the ‘80s.
“I like the power and the strength part of my game, and I definitely like to punish people when they try to tackle me,” he said. “But when I get in the open field and can make a one-on-one play, that’s great too. I love every aspect of the game.
And an aspect of that game – when applied to a small-school, small-town setting – is that when you are good at what you do, you gain folk-hero status.
Briggs, who by day is a physical education teacher at Batavia Middle School, sees this away from the football field as well. In the eyes of both his pre-teen students and looks on astounded adults when the see what he does on the field.
“When a kid is a superstar like Ray, all the younger players look at him as a superhero,” Briggs said. “Earlier this season he’d show up at a Bulldogs youth football games and everyone wants to be around him and he’s great with the kids. It’s cool to see the impact that someone can have on a younger generation.”
Leach’s impact will last long after the footballs are put away and the shoulder pads are cleaned. His legacy will live on for quite some time, including the record books, regardless of what happens this week in the Carrier Dome.
| Ray Leach Through The Years | ||||
| 2015-17 | Att | Yds | Avg | TD |
| Rushing | 291 | 2,784 | 9.57 | 39 |
| Receiving | 34 | 608 | 10 | |
| Returns | – | 857 | 8 | |
| Def TDs | 3 | |||
| Totals | 325 | 4,249 | 60 | |
| 2018 | Att | Yds | Avg | TD |
| Rushing | 208 | 2,583 | 12.42 | 43 |
| Receiving | 10 | 261 | 3 | |
| Returns | – | 186 | 0 | |
| Def TDs | 0 | |||
| Totals | 218 | 3,030 | 46 | |
| Career | Att | Yds | Avg | TD |
| Rushing | 499 | 5,367 | 10.76 | 82 |
| Receiving | 44 | 869 | 13 | |
| Returns | 1,043 | 8 | ||
| Def TDs | 3 | |||
| Totals | 543 | 7,279 | 106 | |
| Section V Records | Rank | |||
| Yards Rushing Game | 474 | 1 | ||
| Yards Rushing Game | 417 | 3 | ||
| Touchdowns Game | 8* | T1 | ||
| Carries Game | 50 | 1 | ||
| Points Season | 278 | 1 | ||
| Rushing Season | 2583 | 2 | ||
| Touchdowns Season | 46 | 1 | ||
| 200-yard Games Season | 5 | T7 | ||
| Yards Rushing Career | 5367 | 3 | ||
| Points Scored Career | 686 | 1 | ||
| Touchdowns Career | 106 | 1 | ||
| State Tourn. Records | Rank | |||
| Yards Rushing Game | 474 | 1 | ||
| Total Yards Game | 474 | 1 | ||
| Touchdowns Game | 8* | 1 | ||
| Total Touchdowns Game | 8* | 1 | ||
| Carries Game | 50 | 1 | ||
| Points Game | 50 | 1 | ||
| All Time State Records | Rank | |||
| Yards Rushing Game | 474 | 8 | ||
| Carries Game | 50 | 3 | ||
| Touchdowns Game | 8* | T6 | ||
| Points Game | 50 | T7 | ||
| Rushing Yards Season | 2583 | 20 | ||
| Touchdowns Season | 46 | 10 | ||
| Touchdowns Career | 106 | 6 | ||
| * Twice | ||||
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