Johns Hopkins football moved to 8-0 on the season with a win against Muhlenberg on Oct. 28 in one of the most unconventional and surprising game-winning plays.
With the game tied at 28, Johns Hopkins attempted a field goal at the end of regulation. The kick never made it far off the ground, but tight end Will Leger gathered the ball and ran it 14 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
“I just kind of blocked down in my gap, and then looked down after I heard the kick and realized the ball was in my hands, which was kind of nuts,” Leger said on Glenn Clark Radio Oct. 31. “Immediately after that I was like, ‘Oh man, we’re going to overtime,’ and then kind of realized, ‘Hey, I can run this in.’ I just turned out and ran to the end zone as fast as I could.”
While Leger didn’t think quickly enough to keep the game-winning touchdown ball, his play led to a 34-28 win for the Blue Jays.
Leger said that the team did situational work at the end of preseason practice and went over what they can and cannot do in certain scenarios — including field goals. The team is currently 0-6 in field goal kicks on the season, but the practice helped him understand he could run a blocked kick in for a score if it did not cross the line of scrimmage.
“I guess I just really paid attention during that practice,” Leger said.
This season, the 6-foot-5, 230-pound senior from Houston has 316 receiving yards and a team-high 10 receiving touchdowns. His breakout season is the product of hard work and a little luck.
“Always staying ready, always working, being in the right place at the right time a good amount of times this season has kind of led to that,” Leger said.
When he was deciding where to go to school, Leger said that Hopkins stood out because it allowed him to major in mechanical engineering while also playing for a competitive football team.
“One of the bigger draws to Hopkins was I knew I wanted to do mechanical engineering. I’m a mechanical engineering major,” Leger said. “Unfortunately, it kind of limits you as a football player to a few different programs that are high academic and competitive. After my visit at Hopkins and speaking with other guys on the team, I knew this was the place that I could call home.”
Hopkins is among the top teams in Division III football this season. The Jays currently sit at first place in the Centennial Conference after knocking off Muhlenberg, which was undefeated at the time. Despite the widespread media attention that Leger got from his heroic play on Oct. 28 — including his play being shown on ESPN — he and the team are still focused on the season ahead.
A win at Dickinson on Nov. 4 would clinch the Centennial Conference title and a spot in the Division III playoffs.
“I think everyone is super focused in and locked in on the next-play mentality. There were a lot of moments, especially in this past game where we could have folded,” Leger said. “But our whole team is really focused in on, ‘What we can do next?’ and ‘What’s the best thing moving forward?'”
For more from Leger, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Johns Hopkins Athletics