Haverford High Sophomore Has A Special Day For Someone Special

Kevin Leyden wears a white rubber bracelet around his right wrist. It serves as a reminder of someone dear, someone the sophomore will never forget—his father Mike, who died of cancer at the age of 48 back in April of this year.

Leyden gave his father a special treat on the without him. The 6-foot, 170-pound tailback proved to be one of the game’s heroes, coming on to replace senior Mike Gentile, who left the game with an injured right shoulder.

Leyden rushed nine times for 70 yards—all in the second half—to help Haverford hang on to a 21-16 victory over Upper Darby, which was on the Haverford 7-yard line with :02 left in the game when a big sack ended it for the Fords.

For Leyden, the game held a meaning that transcended the field. Each time he ran the ball, he thought of his father looking down on him.

“I think it’s why there is a special drive there,” said Leyden, a national-level lacrosse player who’s meriting huge interest from Maryland, Duke, along with some of the best Division I lacrosse programs in the country. “I play to remember my father. This day was a little hard to play. I was a little nervous. But I’ll admit, I know he’s looking down on me. It’s why I wear the (white bracelet).”

Leyden came up with big carries in the fourth quarter when the game was still on the line. Fords’ coach Joe Gallagher is looking forward to having Leyden two more years.

“I like Kevin an awful lot, I’ve known him since he was in my youth camp, so I go way back with Kevin since he was 10 years old,” Gallagher said. “What Kevin has been going through is not an easy thing. But I think it’s a great statement about him and his character to be the kind of person that he is. There is a determination in the way Kevin runs. He plays with a fire. And think about this, this was a big-time game and Kevin played like a big-time player. Kevin Leyden showed he can be a big-time player in a big-time game—and I have him two more years.”