Coaches often say that special-teams play makes up one-third of a football game.
That’s why Brendan Leneghan takes his job so seriously.
Leneghan is a junior at St. Joe’s Prep High School, and he’s the team’s starting long snapper. That job keeps him quite busy.
The Hawks are always piling up points, so Leneghan is out there after every touchdown and whenever the team attempts a field goal, and on the rare times they punt, Leneghan snaps the ball there, too.
He’s just following his dad’s advice. Tony Leneghan was a longtime defensive coordinator at Father Judge.
“My dad always said that someday, I’ll need to long-snap,” said Leneghan, who attended St. Jerome’s and lives in Mayfair. “Then my freshman year, Coach (Gabe) Infante asked if anyone wanted to long-snap and I wanted to do it. We practice special teams a lot, so at the time I was (the backup) long snapper, and me and him would go off and practice.
“It’s a lot of repetition. It’s just doing the same thing over and over and trying to get better at it. It’s not easy, I try to focus on throwing with my right hand and keeping it in a good spot with my left. I aim and spin with my left, but throw with my right.”
That might be a good way to do it because Leneghan makes it look easy.
This year, he was the long snapper, and rotating cornerback, on the team that ran the table and won its third straight Class 6A state championship, a 62-13 triumph over Central York.
It was a great win for the Hawks, who have won a state crown every year Leneghan has been with the program. This year the Hawks were perfect, but Leneghan admits he wasn’t.
“In the championship game, I had a bad snap, but it worked out,” said Leneghan, who was a part of two field goals in the title game, a 39-yard kick to open the scoring and a 48-yarder in the third quarter. “I don’t think a lot of people noticed, but one of my coaches asked me if I was messing with them.”
Them is the holder Malik Cooper, a wideout who is bound for Temple, and junior kicker Antonio Chadha, one of the best in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
“It’s good to have chemistry with them, and they’re both really good at their part,” Leneghan said. “I have to watch for the sign and get it to Malik, and then he has to get it down and then they have to have the timing down. It all has to flow.”
That explains the kicking part, but Leneghan also has to do his job on the punt team. In that one, he has a lot more to do.
“On field goals, I don’t have to block, I just kind of put my arms up and stop anyone coming near, but they’re not allowed to hit me,” Leneghan said. “On punt team, we all have to be responsible to block, and then after that, my job is to tackle the returner. Everyone else has their responsibility, but I just run down to get the returner. I think I had some tackles this year.”
Leneghan also saw some time this year at cornerback, a tough position because the Hawks were always putting up points, so opponents were always throwing.
“When I got to Prep, it was either play receiver or corner, and I come from a defensive family, so I played corner,” said Leneghan, whose brother Anthony, a 2020 graduate of Prep, was a star defensive lineman who is now playing at Amherst College. “I like playing corner. It’s not too common to have a corner who long-snaps, people say that. But I love cornerback. It’s more fun than snapping, I love it.”
Leneghan’s football season is over, but his athletic career is still going strong. He runs sprints for the Hawks indoor and outdoor track teams. He also does field events, including long jump and triple jump.
“I think playing football helps me with track and track helps me with football,” Leneghan said. “A lot of the guys on the football team, especially the receivers and the linemen. I think I’m pretty fast, but running track definitely helps you get faster.”
Leneghan believes running track, coupled with working out with his brother who is home from college, will help prepare him for his senior year.
“Working out with him is definitely intense,” Leneghan said. “He pushes me, I don’t think I push him too hard. He’s a good leader, he’s showed me a lot about what it takes to be a football player, especially at Prep.”
The Hawks are a nationally recognized team. They are clearly the best in Pennsylvania, and have been very successful when playing teams from across the country during their nonleague schedule.
Leneghan is proud to be a member of the prestigious squad, but he’s not most proud.
Wins and championships are nice. Friendships and unbreakable bonds are way better.
“I love playing at St. Joe’s Prep, I think it’s just a great experience for life,” he said. “It really teaches you how everyone can come together from all these different areas and still become so close and become a good team.
“The Prep is a really good place for everyone. It’s a good family to be a part of. I feel like all the coaches and players, the coaches like to say they give you all the tools. They put all the trust in us. I think that’s a great thing.
“The coaches just value every player. If you’re a starter or if you’re playing scout team, you help the team win. It shows everyone is so important.”
