Navy running back Alex Tecza featured as one of the most productive and impressive players in the WPIAL in 2021 at Mt. Lebanon.
Tecza excelled in former Mt. Lebanon head coach Bob Palko’s high-powered offense, rushing 258 times for 2,067 yards and 25 touchdowns. He also worked well as a receiver, catching 27 passes for 209 yards and four touchdowns. His great play was a major factor in Mt. Lebanon achieving a perfect 15-0 record, with their first WPIAL and PIAA Class 6A Championships.
Alex Tecza also scored three touchdowns in the state final game against powerful St. Joseph’s Prep out of Philadelphia in a 35-17 victory. His efforts that season earned him Class 6A Player of the Year honors and was a finalist for Pennsylvania’s Mr. Football award.
Despite all of these accomplishments and the tape he produced against top competition, Tecza didn’t draw a ton of “high level” Division I offers and no Power Five offers.
One of Tecza’s first offers came from the Naval Academy, which started recruiting him during his junior season. Considering he carried a 4.3 GPA, it’s not surprising that Tecza made a smart, long-term decision and choose to attend Navy.
With the way things have gone for him in his first season of action, it’s a decision that Tecza doesn’t regret.
Courtesy Navy Football
The 6-foot-0, 200-pound running back has been one of Navy’s top offensive performers thru the first five games of the season and earned a spot on the American Athletic Conference’s Honor Roll for his performance against North Texas, as he rushed 17 times for 137 yards and two touchdowns.
That wasn’t even this sophomore’s top game of the season, as that came in a 28-24 loss to Memphis on Sept. 14, when he carried the ball 15 times for 163 yards and a touchdown.
Tecza has made a huge rise on the Navy running back depth chart over the past calendar year, as he is currently teaming with fellow fullback Daba Fofana to give the Midshipmen a great rushing attack.
Despite not playing in 2022, Tecza impressed the Navy coaches enough during his time on the scout team to earn a spot on the travel roster, which is rare for a freshman. H started at sixth on the depth chart when camp opened this season, but in a matter of just 16 practices, Tecza showed enough to start working with the second team.
Alex Tecza is not only getting a steady dose of carries, but the Navy offensive coaches have said they are trying to come up with ways to get him the ball more and not just as a running back.
This season, Tecza has carried the ball 56 times for 428 yards (7.6 yards/carry) and three touchdowns.
Tecza’s 2023 Game Log:
8/26 vs. Notre Dame- eight carries for 38 yards.
9/9 vs. Wagner- three carries for eight yards.
9/14 vs. Memphis- 15 carries for 163 yards and one touchdown
9/30 vs. South Florida- 13 carries for 82 yards.
10/7 vs. North Texas- 17 carries for 137 yards and two touchdowns.
Tecza isn’t the only former WPIAL player on the Navy roster as he’s joined by his former teammate at Mt. Lebanon, Eli Heidenreich. Heidenreich has also produced when given the opportunity, rushing 85 yards on eight carries and one touchdown.
None of the big boys offered this young man? Maybe his 4.3 GPA was too high.