Speedboys’ Leslie sets Public League single-season receiving mark

Eric Leslie is not exactly a natural when it comes to receiving.

How could he be? He never played wideout until the final game of the 2009 season. Matter of fact, he never played football at all until his freshman year at West Philadelphia High.

"I always wanted to play," he said. "But we had some struggles as a family, and we couldn't afford [the fees] for youth ball. My mom said I'd just have to wait until high school."

Eric Leslie, a 5-10, 140-pound junior who's called T.O. by his teammates because he's very good, not because he's a nut, is now the Public League's all-time leader for one-season receiving yardage.

Thursday, though the Speedboys fell to visiting Overbrook, 46-20, Leslie made two catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns, thus finalizing his season numbers at 29-861-10.

The previous recordholder, Darrell Miller, posted 769 yards for Frankford in 1976. That effort helped him become the Daily News' Public League Player of the Decade, and he went on to star at West Virginia.

"Dammmmn," a laughing Leslie said, when told of Miller's accomplishments.

(Thursday was not a good day for Frankford all-timers. Warren Mays, who'd owned the Pub's one-season passing-yardage mark since 1969, at 1,875, was surpassed by Samuel Fels' Tyree "Bam" Rucker, at 1,994.)

The Speedboys wasted no time lifting Leslie to new heights. He entered the game with 761 yards and immediately took a right-side screen pass from Larry Richardson 62 yards to the Spruce Street end zone.

"That was our plan. Go for it right away," said Leslie, who lives near 52nd and Baltimore. "It was a 'bunch screen' with four of us out to the right. Khalil Summers and Robert Andrews were on the line, and Markel Faulk was right next to me in the backfield. I got great blocking.

"We ran that play time after time in practice these past couple weeks [West hadn't played since Nov. 5]. We had it down."

Leslie's other TD covered 38 yards.

"I had barely had faith in myself," he said. "But like the coach [Pat O'Hara] tells us, 'If you work hard, you can get somewhere.'

"In ninth grade, I barely got on the field. Last year I started at cornerback and then our starting wideout got hurt and I played the Turkey Bowl against 'Brook. I guess the coaches saw something they liked." *