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t happened in a 4ash. During the third quarter of the Schuylkill League Division I champi- onship on Oct. 25, North Schuylkill cor- nerback Jaden Leiby burst toward the line of scrimmage to tackle a Pottsville ball carrier who had just caught a screen pass. Tyler Elsdon, a linebacker in Penn State's Class of 2020 and Leiby's co-captain, joined the pursuit. "I was scraping over the top and got hung up by two linemen," Elsdon said. "I should have made the play. It was just one of those things, it was a bang-bang play. He came up, did what he always did, made a great tackle. It was a hard hit, and just in the blink of an eye things changed." On the hit, Leiby, who doubles as North Schuylkill's quarterback and had already scored three touchdowns that night, frac- tured his neck and was unable to move. He was stretchered o5 the 3eld before being airli6ed to Lehigh Valley Hospital. Although his team was ahead in the game, Elsdon felt the shi6 in emotion a6er seeing one of his best friends loaded into an ambulance. He decided that he and his teammates had to respond as best they could. "We made it a positive at the time," Els- don said. "We said, 'We've got to 3nish this for him.' Since then, we played with raw emotion, aggression, played some of our best football a6er that. … We took it as a drive, more energy, because we knew that's what he would want us to do." The three-star prospect said Leiby's in- jury gave him new perspective before his college career began. As the team's leader, Elsdon said he wanted to be a "rock" for his teammates and to talk to anyone who needed reassurance. The Spartans prayed a6er practices and carried on the idea of playing each game like their last – a mantra Elsdon said Leiby repeated every day. North Schuylkill held on to beat Pottsville and won its next game, a Dis- trict 11 playo5 matchup a week later, be- fore Elsdon's senior season ended with a loss to Tamaqua. At each point along the way, the community showed its support for Leiby – who is currently at a rehab fa- cility – with hashtags, bracelets, rally towels and his No. 6 painted on the 3eld. "Whenever anything tragic happens, you really learn more about yourself and more about the people around you," Els- don said. "It made me more grateful for the area I'm from, because the commu- nity is so tight and everyone came to- gether, and I think that's really remarkable." It's the same kind of community Elsdon said he's excited to join when he arrives in University Park as an early enrollee in January. Elsdon, who is listed at 6-foot- 2, 230 pounds, committed to Penn State in June only a couple of days a6er he re- ceived his scholarship o5er. His choice will allow him to remain close to his home in Ashland, Pa. That, along with the history and tradition at Penn State, made his decision easy, he said. He also believes in the people who are driving the program. At some other schools, he said, "you go around, you start to see people, and things don't add up, words don't add up to a face. But everything with Penn State was clear as day. Most welcoming sta5, most supportive sta5, just care about the people, and I think that's a big di5erence with Coach [James] Franklin. He obvi- ously wants to win and does a great job Elsdon finds a sense of community at Penn State | I THE ELSDON FILE STATS Totaled 97 tackles as a senior, including 19 tackles for loss and five sacks... Finished with 115 tackles during his junior season, including 23 TFL and seven sacks... Inter- cepted three passes during his last two seasons HONORS Named a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, as well as the No. 9 prospect in Pennsylvania CLICK HERE to see video of Elsdon in action. U P C L O S E & P E R S O N A L

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