Franklin junior Alex Leugers is making up for lost time with 298 yards rushing through two games this season.
Daily Journal file photo
The very last place Alex Leugers wanted to be for the greater part of last season’s games was on his team’s sideline.
In time, however, the Franklin running back began harvesting the benefits.
After sustaining a broken collarbone in the 2022 opener, a 42-14 win at Danville, Leugers started to notice the previously unnoticed from this entirely new vantage point as the Grizzly Cubs’ regular season played out.
“It just taught me the game,” Leugers said. “I learned a lot about my position. How to move. How to weave my body in and out of situations. And I run low now when I carry the ball.”
Lemons. Lemonade. You know the sequence.
Through two games this season, Leugers, now a 6-foot, 195-pound junior, is near the county lead with 298 yards rushing on 43 attempts — a 6.9-yard norm — and five touchdowns.
He attempts to add to that this evening when Franklin, which is coming off a hard-fought 41-38 loss at Mt. Vernon, starts the Mid-State Conference portion of its season at Perry Meridian.
“At this point, I’ve seen about everything you can see, but it was really hard last season because Alex had worked so hard to get himself ready,” seventh-year Franklin coach Chris Coll said. “We thought he was going to contribute significantly to our offense.
“But he did everything he could to stay in shape and get ready (while injured). Alex is explosive, he’s strong. Just a very, very nice running back.”
Leugers admits his running form was far more vertical last season when he attempted his 10th carry against the Warriors.
“I just took the ball and ran it outside, and got tackled by a lineman,” Leugers said. “It was kind of a wasted play. Third and 13. I was just trying to get some extra yardage.
“I had the ball in my left hand, landed on my left shoulder, and my collarbone just snapped.”
Leugers underwent surgery the following Tuesday to have his left clavicle repaired with six screws and a plate. His left arm was in a sling approximately three weeks before he was instructed to remove it to test his range of motion.
A little over two months passed before Leugers was back on the field for Franklin’s 35-34 sectional victory at Terre Haute South, contributing 14 carries for a team-high 85 yards and a touchdown.
The junior admits there were definitely nerves his first rushing attempt, but once tackled a few times, he was good to go — physically and mentally. In the season finale, a 24-0 home loss to eventual Class 5A state runner-up Whiteland, Leugers, playing at what he calls 90%, rushed 12 times for 47 yards.
Leugers’ offseason diligence inside his school’s weight room now has him maxing out with a 305-pound bench press. He’s able to squat 415 pounds and deadlift 500.
Like all appreciative running backs, Leugers is quick to attribute much of his success to the big bodies up front.
In the case of the Grizzly Cubs, it’s left tackle Eli Jewell, left guard Brody Stephens, center Mason Ford, right guard Sam Welch, right tackle Conner Voris and tight end/H-back Kaleb Owens (who doubles as the team’s No. 2 rusher with 112 yards on 13 carries so far).
“I would probably say I’m more of speed back than a power back,” Leugers said. “My O-line just makes the holes for me, and I hit them as hard as I can.”
If you’re an opposing defense, them’s the breaks.
TONIGHT’S GAMES
Louisville Trinity at Center Grove, 7 p.m.
Franklin at Perry Meridian, 7 p.m.
Greenwood at Martinsville, 7 p.m.
Decatur Central at Whiteland, 7 p.m.
Owen Valley at Indian Creek, 7 p.m.
Edinburgh at South Decatur, 7 p.m.
Greenwood Christian at Wes-Del, 7 p.m.
Roncalli at Bishop Chatard, 7 p.m.
