The 2023 scholastic football season saw the Downingtown East football team feature a defense that has not been seen in District 1 since the hallowed days of Central Bucks West in the 1990s. The Cougars finished with an 11-1 record, won the Ches-Mont National Division and advanced to the semifinals of the District 1 6A playoffs.
The Cougars pitched nine shutouts and allowed teams less than four points per game. East rolled through its first two games of districts by not allowing a point.
Results as lofty as these need not only talent but a form of leadership on the field to put everyone on the squad in the right position. No one did this better than the senior captain and leader of the defense, than Mike Leo.
Leo was instrumental in the Cougars’ success, manning his spot in the secondary and also as the coaches choice to get everyone lined up properly on every play. It is for these accomplishments that Leo is The Daily Local News All-Area Football Player of the Year.
“The coaches showed that they had a lot of faith in me to get everyone on the defense set,“ Leo said. “I am very thankful that they had so much trust in me. and gave me that responsibility. I just carried out what coach (Brandon) Noble, called on every play and executed what I was told. And our defense was special this year.
“All the guys and myself just like to play fast and wild and just get after the opposing offense. We ran to the ball on every play and we wanted to get after them right from the start of the game. We liked to light people up and hit hard and I think we did that this season.”
Longtime head coach Mike Matta installed Leo as one of his captains for the season. He said that it was not just Leo’s play on the field that was special, but what he did off the field and in practices that set him apart from the normal player.
“Mike Leo is a great leader more than anything else,” Matta said. “He takes the job of getting the team lined up properly very seriously. And besides being a great player and a great leader, he is also a great teammate. Mike Leo was the glue that made our defense work like it did. The kids respected him and he was a tireless worker also.”
Besides being the key cog in the historic defense, Leo was a key special teams player and was responsible for fielding punts. Special teams coordinator Evan Breisblatt talked about how much Leo affected the game.
“Mike was a big factor for us,” Breisblatt said. “Besides his stellar play on defense, his special teams play and the way he consistently fielded punts and turning the field over for us was a huge difference maker for our field position this season.”
When people talk about the Downingtown East defense of 2023 they will talk about the nine shutouts in 12 games and they will remember the captain of that defense that took on, not only his role as a player, but as an extension of the coaching staff on the field.
Leo was a great player, leader and teammate. One could not possibly ask for more of an athlete.
