Leonard Is Supreme Ruler in Land of Ox

PALMDALE —  Matt Leonard doesn’t just make tackles. He performs body slams. And with each of his painful tosses to the turf, the legend of the Ox grows.

Most people think Leonard, who might be the region’s most intimidating defensive player, is called the Ox simply because he is 6 feet 4 and 295 pounds or because he can carry Palmdale High’s defense on his back.

Actually, Leonard picked up the nickname after being sent regularly to On-Campus Suspension (OCS) rooms in middle school.

Not that he is a bad citizen. Or a bad student.

Leonard has a 3.9 grade-point average and scored 1,110 on the Scholastic Assessment Test.

“It was just that I was so much bigger than everyone in junior high that I would hurt them when we were playing around,” Leonard said.

Leonard, a senior end, won’t play around tonight when Palmdale plays host to No. 4-seeded Hart in a Southern Section Division II quarterfinal at 7:30.

Earlier this season, Leonard ran over a Ridgecrest Burroughs player, dislocating the opponent’s knee.

“I’ve given a couple guys concussions too,” Leonard said. “It’s hard to keep track of them because [injured opponents] usually just leave the game and you never learn what happens to them.”

Opportunities to punish opponents have come less frequently lately because coaches have elected to run away from Leonard’s side of the field.

The strategy frustrates Leonard, but he accepts it philosophically.

“I figure that if they constantly run the other way, it’s taking away half of the field and half of their offense,” said Leonard, who still has managed team highs with 8 1/2 sacks and 14 tackles for losses.

Hart assistant Rick Herrington doesn’t think attacking the opposite side is such a bad game plan.

“If everyone is [going the other direction], it tells me that he is playing against some very smart coaches,” said Herrington, Hart’s defensive coordinator.

“If he gets even one finger on your jersey, he can pull you down. That’s what’s so amazing about his strength.”

Palmdale Coach Jeff Williams believes Leonard will continue to excel when he plays in college.

“I haven’t seen many defensive linemen who have been as dominant as Ox,” said Williams, who this year guided Palmdale to its first outright Golden League football title since 1961. “He’s one of the few who can step right out of high school and make an immediate impact in college.”

Leonard was pursued by more than 50 major college programs, but narrowed his choices to five. He is taking recruiting trips to Stanford on Dec. 5, Notre Dame on Dec. 12, Colorado on Dec. 19 and Arizona and UCLA, both in January.

Leonard, who plans to major in computer science, says he is leaning toward Stanford. But he is keeping his options open.

His older brother, Malosi, was a redshirt freshman this year at Arizona after having reconstructive knee surgery. The thought of playing end for the Wildcats while Malosi plays linebacker appeals to Leonard.

The pair, whose parents are movie stuntmen, are particularly close.

They played together at Palmdale last season, when the Falcons tied Antelope Valley and Highland for a share of their first league title since 1965.

The stepsons of Terry Leonard, one of Hollywood’s most respected stuntmen, they had background roles in the films “Tombstone” and “Die Hard With a Vengeance.”

“I would love to play with Malosi again,” Leonard said. “I miss him. But I have to choose the school that is best for me.”