Leeper Is Having A Hinson-Type Season

In Jamestown’s opening football game at Niagara Falls, senior running back Aaron Leeper scored four touchdowns in less than three quarters and that brought back some memories.

It was six years ago that David Hinson opened the 1994 season with a five touchdown performance at Kenmore West and he did it all in the first half. Leeper matched that feat three weeks ago with five touchdowns at Hamburg in less than three quarters. He followed that up with a four touchdown performance last Saturday against Clarence and it was his second straight game with more than 230 yards rushing.

But the di9fference with Leeper’s Hinson-like performances is that they are not the main story of the Jamestown wins like they were in Hinson’s senior season. And no one has been trying to draw comparisons between Leeper and Hinson.

“I don’t know if people forget or new fans come in,” Coach Wally Huckno said. “You mention David Hinson to a number of fans and they want to know who he was. They forget very quickly.”

During the 1994 season, Hinson tied a state record by scoring 35 touchdowns and set a Western New York record with 2,260 yards despite playing two quarters or less in four games because Jamestown was so far ahead.

“A lot of times his work was done by halftime,” Huckno said.

Hinson had two games with five touchdowns, two four-touchdown games and three with three scores. He also rushed for more than 260 yards three times. All that led to the Red Raiders first state championship and they couldn’t have done it without Hinson. He also won the Connolly Cup as the best high school player in WNY.

“We certainly did get on his back almost exclusively,” Huckno recalled.

But that is not the case with Leeper. For instance, in the game in which he score five touchdowns, teammate Sheldon Battle had an equally remarkable 5 ½ sacks. And while Leeper is racking up the yardage on the ground, quarterback Kris Olson is doing it through the air, averaging 6 completions, 110 yards and one touchdown after four games. Those would not be impressive passing statistics at Maple Grove, but at run-oriented Jamestown they are phenomenal.

So when Leeper has an outstanding game, so do one or more of his teammates.

“We were talking about that the other day, about the fact that he’s quietly putting up a lot of numbers without a lot of fanfare,” Assistant Coach Joe DiMaio said. In some of the games, we’ve had other people step up which kind of lends to that happening.”

And Leeper likes it that way.

“It’s a team sport,” the 5-foot-10, 180-pound speedster said. “I don’t think one person on the team should get all the glory. Everyone contributes. The linemen contribute, the quarterback contributes, the kicker contributes. I think it’s good that everyone is getting publicity.”

But Huckno pointed out Leeper is earning his publicity the hard way as compared to Hinson in 1994.

“I think right now Aaron is doing a lot more with less,” he said. “David had a number of people on the line who turned out to be all-state candidates and I don’t know if we have that at this point. Overall, I think Aaron has more speed than David, his overall breakaway speed. Aaron is probably a more proficient defensive player. On the other hand, David had two terrific blockers in Andy Benson and Joe McKoy.”

Leeper is also a threat as a receiver.

“I don’t remember ever splitting David out like we did on Saturday,” Huckno said about a touchdown pass to Leeper against Clarence. “He’s come out of the backfield on different routes.”

Leeper also handles the punting, but he’s best known for his running.

DiMaio handles the backfield and has coached other great runners in the past and each had a trademark. He noted that Hinson was known for his moves and Ned Battle for his power, but when it comes to Leeper, “He might be the fastest I’ve been around. Aaron is pure speed. I don’t know if he’s matured into the running back David was yet in terms of pure running. But that pure speed, when he cuts that loose… Last Saturday, when we looked at the film and saw him run away from their defensive backs that had angles on him, that was amazing.”

However, top performances were expected of Leeper, who was highly touted coming into this season and was even listed in Street and Smith’s as one of the top high school players in the nation. In contrast, Hinson came into his senior season as a virtual unknown.

“We expected big things out of Aaron since the time we brought him up as a ninth-grader,” Huckno said. “David as a junior was not a big contributor. Something kicked in as a senior and it kicked in the first game. He had not shown any brilliant flashes, even in scrimmages, until that first game.”

DiMaio agreed and said, “Aaron’s been with us since he was a ninth-grader and he's had a little bit of chance to mature. David came from a junior defensive back to a senior running back that just exploded.”

But even with Hinson’s importance to that 1994 team, Huckno believes it could have survived his loss with an injury better than this season’s team could handle Leeper being sidelined.

“Andy Benson would have been the ball carrier at tailback,” he said about Hinson’s potential replacement in 1994. I don’t think we have anybody at Andy Benson’s level this year. We have a couple of backs who are decent, but I think it would be more of a catastrophe if we were to lose Aaron.”

Leeper was in the seventh grade during Hinson’s memorable season. He was also playing midget league football for the Northside Warriors and recalled coming to Strider Field to watch Hinson.

“I loved watching him play. He was exiting,” Leeper said. “They went all the way and that’s what I’m hoping we can do.”

Hinson and Leeper were teammates while running track for the Chautauqua Striders and they became friends. When Leeper sees Hinson now, he likes to needle him.

“Dave, I’m getting 36 this year, that’s what I tell him,” Leeper says with a grin. “That’s a goal for me, to get 36 touchdowns.”

What helped Hinson score a state-tying record of 35 touchdowns was playing in 13 games, all wins, en route to the state championship. That is nine more games than Leeper has played so far coming into today’s contest at Lockport.

If offered 36 touchdowns or 13 games, I’m sure Leeper would choose the latter in a heartbeat. Thirteen games mean Jamestown will be playing in the Carrier Dome for a state championship, it’s first since 1995.