Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue.
Please log in, or sign up for a new account to continue reading.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Welcome! We hope that you enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribe purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribe purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Thank you for signing in! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Please purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Your current subscription does not provide access to this content.
Sorry, no promotional deals were found matching that code.
Promotional Rates were found for your code.
A few clouds. Low 67F. Winds light and variable..
A few clouds. Low 67F. Winds light and variable.
Summerville quarterback Braylon Leveroos (3) runs the ball in for a touchdown after losing a shoe in a Sept. 2 home game against Waterford, which the Bears won 48-21. Leveroos had five rushing touchdowns in the effort.
Summerville quarterback Braylon Leveroos (3) runs the ball in for a touchdown after losing a shoe in a Sept. 2 home game against Waterford, which the Bears won 48-21. Leveroos had five rushing touchdowns in the effort.
When watching Summerville High School’s senior quarterback Braylon Leveroos run the football this preseason, one is reminded of a steel ball in a pinball machine — ricocheting off would-be tacklers and pushing his momentum forward despite contact.
“He’s still a quarterback, but he is not your typical quarterback who can run,” Bears assistant coach Matt Elkins said. “He runs with power, he runs with a little bit of ‘want to’ behind him. A lot of guys will run out of bounds — he won’t run out of bounds.
“He’s a quarterback that is a tailback, but he’s also a tailback that’s a quarterback. You can pick your poison with him. Waterford found that out the other night.”
Leveroos has always been able to run, but this season his touches are a bit more purposeful.
In an interview near the end of the Bears’ summer training, Leveroos said the team planned to introduce more quarterback runs into their playbook as one of the new wrinkles to the Summerville offense this year. The idea being that, if Leveroos can take off and earn meaningful yardage carrying the ball on his own, opposing teams’ linemen won’t be able to come freely off the edge and make easy tackles in the backfield.
That wrinkle has certainly taken effect through the Bears’ first three preseason games this year. Leveroos has scored at least one rushing touchdown in each of the Bears first three games: one against Gustine, one against Dos Palos and a whopping five against Waterford.
Leveroos accrued 106 and 212 rushing yards against the Dos Palos Broncos and the Waterford Wildcats over the past two games — stellar rushing numbers for a quarterback.
Many of those runs came on big plays, including back-to-back-to-back rushes of 36 yards, 29 yards and 45 yards respectively against Waterford — all three resulting in touchdowns.
According to Leveroos, the skill contributing to his pinball-esque running style is referred to as contact balance — the ability to absorb a hit from a defender and still maintain one’s footing — and is something NFL running backs have built careers on.
“Alvin Kamara does it really well, probably the best in the NFL right now, and it’s always been something that’s a little natural to me — being able to stay on my feet even when I'm getting hit,” Leveroos said.
With a strong build and not excessively tall at 5-foot-10-inches and 180 pounds, Leveroos’ center of gravity is fairly low. Using that to his advantage, Leveroos embraces contact, rather than shying away from it.
“I actually do it in the game; I’ll use the defender to keep me up. That happened a few times, like, I’ll have a guy knock me one way and I’m like, ‘Hey, I might go down unless I bounce off this guy.’ Like, ‘Someone come hit me, keep me upright!’ ” Leveroos said. “They are knocking me back and forth, but they are keeping me up.”
Within the Bears’ offense, Leveroos’ build and natural stability is helping him put up impressive rushing numbers, transforming him into a true dual-threat quarterback. That’s great news for a team with plenty of pass-catching weapons on the outside, who can spread out opponents and pick them apart when they are forced to collapse on the ball due to Leveroos’ and Elkins’ ability to make big plays with their legs.
Leveroos said, knowing the Bears’ coaching staff planned to put the ball in his hands more this season, he worked with assistant coach Matt Elkins on his timing as a ball-carrier.
“I’ve worked on some patience while running, so not just going full speed the whole time, but kind of taking a second to see where I can go and then hitting the hole hard,” Leveroos said. “I’ve had to dial back a little bit, but having speed to outrun people and get to the endzone has been amazing this year.”
Elkins explained that concept more in-depth in an interview with the Union Democrat this week.
“When you get to the top of your level in high school, you are usually going too fast,” Elkins said. “I told them, ‘You guys have the ability to go really fast but at the same time, if you slow down just a little bit, you are able to see things a lot differently.’ ”
That new facet of Leveroos’ rushing was on display last Friday against Waterford, Elkins said, when he would cut back and vary his speed to allow blockers to help him find the endzone.
Leveroos said his big rushing numbers, especially against Waterford, are as much due to his offensive line’s “amazing” blocking as his own play.
“A couple of his longer runs, he was slowing down (and) speeding up, letting his linemen catch up,” Elkins said. “I really think he’s starting to come into his own with the patience aspect of things.”
The increased rushing workload for Leveroos has also eased the pressure on Summerville’s star back Kai Elkins, who has been relied on heavily this season as a defensive stopper in the Bears’ secondary. With Leveroos dominating the run game against Waterford last week, Kai Elkins quietly stood out as one of the team’s top defensive players, recording five tackles and 11 assisted tackles on top of his 138 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Normally, you would see Leveroos spending a lot of time playing safety for the Bears, making plays in the secondary. You’ll see less of that this year, as the Bears are starting to scheme more around his usage on the offensive side of the ball.
“He’s so valuable on offense that we can’t risk having him get hurt on defense,” Matt Elkins said.
Matt Elkins used the word “cerebral” to describe both Leveroos and Kai Elkins, who are continuing to build upon their game, even as seniors.
“I use that word, specifically, because they could change a game just by their preparation,” he said. “That’s the thing people don’t really understand about Braylon — he’ll prepare for something that he might not even do.”
Leveroos success throwing the ball is part of what earned him a first team all-league selection last season. With an enhanced rushing ability combined with more touches, it’s hard to tell what the ceiling could be for Leveroos’ offensive output this season.
“(Head coach Sean) Leveroos this year decided to try some new things with him,” Matt Elkins said. “Braylon has put in the work in the offseason and we are all seeing the results right now.”
Braylon Leveroos’ unique combination of speed, strength, balance and patience are helping make his steadily-improving rushing chops a significant storyline to follow this season as the Bears look to continue their unbeaten streak heading into an away matchup against Hughson Friday night.
Contact Dominic Massimino at dmassimino@uniondemocrat.net or (209) 588-4526. Follow him on Twitter at @DominicUDSports
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.