'He gets it done': Players, coaches recognize Manheim Township senior as 'No. 1' football player (2024)

There was no debate when it was time for Manheim Township to hand out No. 1 for this football season. It had to be Declan Clancy.

The senior is a four-year starter and is essentially two players rolled into one. He was voted the best linebacker in Section One of the Lancaster-Lebanon League while he rushed for 1,162 yards last fall.

Who else was coach Mark Evans going to pick?

“Dec is a perfect fit for the No. 1,” Evans said. “A hard worker in every facet. Our spark plug. He gets it done.”

The first number on the Blue Streaks’ roster has carried extra meaning for the past 15 years. The tradition started before Evans, when Mike Melnyk was the coach. No. 1 has been presented to the leader of the skill position players.

Brian Sourber is believed to be the first to receive the honor. Tyler Karpinski was the first to wear it during Evans’ tenure. Hayden Johnson carried the torch last season.

If you go through the list of No. 1s, you realize it features some of the most influential figures in Township’s recent history.

Clancy was twice the leading rusher for teams that reached the District Three Class 6A championship game. It was his turn.

“It’s obviously a cool number to have,” Clancy said. “The meaning behind it being given makes it even cooler.”

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A fast starter

Township doesn’t often put freshmen on varsity, let alone in the starting lineup. The Blue Streaks prefer to let the ninth-graders develop together.

Some players are exceptions. They force the coaching staff’s hand. Clancy broke through as a starting free safety the summer before he entered high school. There was no denying him.

“If it’s time, it’s time,” Evans said. “It sure as heck was time for him to make that move.”

Clancy assumed his two-way role midway through his sophomore season. He was mostly working as a linebacker at that point. Injuries to Nick Good and Jake Laubach forced Clancy to become Township’s primary ball carrier.

That’s the position he has held ever since. When Johnson wasn’t lighting up the scoreboard with touchdown strikes to Landon Kennel, Clancy was moving the chains on the ground.

The respect Clancy receives within Township’s locker room is universal. Teammates speak about him in reverential terms.

“I think about him like The Terminator,” lineman Owen Marks said. “He doesn’t feel pain. He doesn’t talk much. If I was on the other team, I’d be pretty horrified because he’s running through and not saying a word. It’s pretty scary.”

Evans, who has watched his share of remarkable athletes pass through those blue doors during the past 13 seasons, describes Clancy in a similar manner.

“If I’m going down a dark alley, I want to take him with me,” Evans said. “He runs the ball like a linebacker. He’s deceptively fast. He’s a dawg.”

Then Evans spelled it out for emphasis: “a D-A-W-G.”

Township will have a different approach with a first-year starting quarterback under center. Clancy may have an even more prominent place in the play calling.

The 5-foot-10, 195-pound senior can handle any workload. He never seems to get tired.

“He’s a machine out there,” said lineman Tom Capizzi. “There are no breaks. He’s 100% on every play. It’s pretty impressive what he does.”

Last hurrah

No. 1 isn’t new to the Clancy family. Cade, Declan’s older brother, wore it as a senior four years ago.

Tim Clancy, the boys’ dad, was a Hall of Famer at Kutztown University and Cade followed in those footsteps to the Golden Bears. He’ll be a redshirt junior this season. Declan’s college future is to be determined.

The younger Clancy is focused on the first 10 weeks of this season and beyond. Township has become a Class 6A power and deep playoff runs are an expectation.

“You never want to be the class who had a down year,” Clancy said. “We’re always looking to improve on what the class the year before left.”

Last year’s seniors, led by Johnson, Kennel and so many others, authored one of the school’s greatest football chapters. The Class of 2025 is ready to make its own mark.

Clancy is the unquestioned leader of that group. He’s No. 1.

“Each player writes their own story with it,” Capizzi said. “I think Declan’s will be as good as anybody else’s. If not better.”