2025 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: Central Valley’s Brendan Alexander

By: Matthew Purucker
Thursday, July 17, 2025 | 8:01 AM

Entering his junior season, Central Valley lineman Brendan Alexander was focused on becoming a better team leader.

Although that might seem like a minor detail, it is all the more meaningful on the offensive and defensive lines.

A 6-foot-4, 290-pound lineman, Alexander is looked to by his teammates to lead. He has emphasized that his aspirations are small compared to those of the team.

“I feel like there’s not really goals for myself. I want to be a team player. … For the team, the most important goal is just to win,” Alexander said. “I want to be recognized as (part) of the best at Central Valley and represent my community. We have a good community at Central Valley.”

Though Alexander is more than capable of playing on both sides of the ball, colleges are recruiting him to play on the offensive line.

Alexander has established himself as a sought-after recruit, having 14 Power 4 offers, but he has been working hard this offseason to be at his best in the fall.

“I think he’s going to come into the season with a much better body to compete every down. I’m not so sure, but he might have been carrying too much weight last year,” Central Valley coach Mark Lyons said. “I’m not so sure that allowed him to play at his level.

“I think he’s paid a lot of attention to that, which made him kind of have a slow start to the season. I think you’ll see a faster, better version of him.”

This summer, he also traveled south to Raleigh, N.C., for his first official visit to N.C. State, but he is far from committing to a school.

“N.C. State was definitely the most surprising (recruiting process). I went there once as a freshman for a camp,” Alexander said. “It was nice. … I just feel like they have good facilities and a good coach (Dave Doeren) over there as well.”

Alexander had 81 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 38 QB hurries and one sack last year. In his career, he has 159 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, three sacks, 83 QB hurries and two interceptions. Lyons expects Alexander to make more impact on defense.

“(He’s) making bigger plays for us, pivotal plays, game-changing plays, momentum-changing plays, ways to impact the game at his position,” Lyons said. “Some people think that’s a difficult thing to do at that position, offensive/defensive line, and I probably was one of those guys until I had the opportunity to see Sean FitzSimmons do it.”

With just over a month to go until Week Zero, Alexander and Central Valley are excited to put everything together in their quest to win another WPIAL and PIAA championship.

“I feel like we had some ups and downs last season,” Alexander said. “But being able to make it to the WPIAL (championship) is always a good thing. … I feel the guys are working hard, trying to get better.

“For sure, I definitely want to go as far as we can.”

Brendan Alexander

Central Valley

Senior

6-foot-4, 290 pounds

OL/DL

Stars: Three

Division I offers: Akron, Arkansas, Boston College, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Connecticut, Duke, Georgia Tech, James Madison, Liberty, Marshall, Maryland, Miami (Ohio), Michigan State, North Carolina State, Penn State, Pitt, Sacramento State, Stanford, Syracuse, Temple, South Florida, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Wisconsin

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Tags: Central Valley