CRASH COURSE: Transplanted From the Dominican Republic, Brockway Senior Running Back Jendy Cuello Has Made Huge Strides on the Football Field in a Short Time

ST. MARYS, Pa. (EYT/D9) — When Jendy Cuello was a freshman on the Brockway football team, he barely knew a cornerback from a quarterback.

His football knowledge was extremely limited. Understandable. He had only been living in the United States for a few years, a transplant from the Dominican Republic where baseball — not American football — is king.

Cuello, though, wanted to be involved. He wanted to make new friends in his new home and he figured playing football — a sport that had intrigued him — was the way to do it.

But getting on the field was only a dream at that point.

(Pictured above, Jendy Cuello runs for some yardage against Redbank Valley/photo by Madison McFarland)

“If you would have seen me play or just talked to me about football my freshman year — I was just kind of on the football team,” Cuello said. “I wasn’t really a football player. I was on the team and I was just hoping that I’d get a spot.”

Cuello studied hard, however, trying to learn the ins and outs of this game that was foreign to him.

A running back, when he did get the ball, he plowed straight ahead. No swerve. No cuts or jukes. Just head down for as long as he could stay upright.

For the 5-foot-9 Cuello, who was also much thinner than he is now, that was not a productive strategy.

But he worked, both in the weight room and on the practice field. Off of it, too. Watching film. Digesting games on television. Taking a crash course in Football 101.

By the end of his sophomore year, he got his shot in a live game.

It was just three carries in the season finale, but it was enough for him to get on the coach’s radar at Brockway.

“That’s when they were like, ‘OK. There’s some potential there,’” Cuello said. “The coaches put all their trust in me. They worked with me during the offseason and that’s what got me to how I am now. I just had all that time to kind of build off of.”

Cuello got an even bigger opportunity last season.

He started slowly with just 51 yards in his first two games. Then a 106-yard effort against Coudersport, and a few weeks later a 165-yard game against Smethport.

Then, eureka.

Cuello clicked in the second half of the season, as if the all the tumblers came into perfect alignment.

Potential unlocked.

He rumbled for 159 yards against Ridgway on Oct. 14. Followed that up with 182 yards against Redbank Valley in a six-point loss. Piled up 207 yards the next week against Cameron County and 101 on just 11 carries in the first round of the District 9 Class A playoffs against Coudersport in a 62-6 rout.

His true coming out party came the next week in the semifinals against Redbank.

The back who once just ran in a straight line, weaved and darted and spun and juked his way through a very good Redbank Valley defense for 166 yards on 41 electric carries. He helped Brockway eat up large portions of clock in the Rovers’ 7-3 upset win over the defending D9 champ Bulldogs.

Even in a loss the next week to Port Allegany in the championship game, Cuello was a factor with 124 yards in the 21-14 defeat.

Cuello finished the year with 1,410 yards on 252 carries. He scored 12 touchdowns.

In the final six games, he amassed 939 yards and found the end zone six times.

“I just became a smarter player and got to understand the game, even from reading keys from D-lineman and stuff like that,” Cuello said. “It’s the stuff you really don’t think about in a game that is actually very important when it comes down to it.”

Brockway coach Jake Heigel can’t help but smile and chuckle when Cuello talks about reading blocks and recognizing keys from defensive lineman.

That was such a far-fetched concept from Cuello not so long ago.

“It’s funny because like he said, freshman year, he had a long way to go,” Heigel said. “And to hear him talk about reading blocks and D-lineman keys is … entertaining. But at the same time, he’s put so much time into it. He’s put so much effort into it.”

The emergence of Cuello has made an already dangerous Brockway offense even scarier.

The Rovers have junior quarterback Brayden Fox back for his third year as a starter. Last year he passed for 2,611 yards and 33 touchdowns.

“I think balance is what we were leaning toward a little bit more at the end of the year,” Heigel said. “We have a very big group of linemen back and obviously having Jendy back with a couple of other backs, we’re excited.

“Brayden, again, everyone knows his statistics,” Heigel added. “Having somebody like that at your QB position with the knowledge that he has makes it a little bit easier to air it out, but I think if you want to win games in late October, November, you have to be able to establish the ground game, so I think balance will be key and it might change from week to week. You just never know. Each team that you play is different.”

Cuello is ready no matter how many times he is called upon.

A senior now, he is one of the captains of the team and a leader.

He’s well-spoken. Thoughtful. Humble. Team-first. All the perfect traits of a captain.

“I have full confidence in this team. I believe we have all the players to make it that far and even farther,” Cuello said. “It’s just a matter of if we can communicate as a team and get all this stuff right. I feel like we’ve done that so far this offseason. We’re setting the tradition with the young guys because they’re going to be the people who are going to lead our team in the years to come. We want to set that example as players right now. Eventually, it’s going to be theirs and we want them to be just as successful as we are. We want to keep building a winning program and just keep a winning mentality.”

Cuello feels comfortable in his own skin and in those shoulder pads and helmet.

A far cry from just a few years ago.

“My confidence is high. That’s just because of all the work we all put into it,” he said. “I would say I feel way better and that’s mainly just because the experience I got of being on that big stage, of being in the playoffs and even making it the D9 championship. Now I know how that feels and maybe some of the nerves that I would have going into that game last year, I no longer have.”