Lees captains Lake County all-area team
Just like on the football field, Riley Lees grades out well in the classroom.
For the most part.
"I've got a B in math, and I've got A's in everything else," said Lees, Libertyville's star quarterback.
"Except for in gym."
Oh, gym. That must be an A+, right? Lees, one of the best athletes in the state over the last two football seasons, stymying opponents and electrifying fans with his blinding speed, fancy footwork and spectacular scrambles, must be acing that class.
"It's my only C," Lees said with a chuckle.
"Seriously. It's my lowest grade in school. That's a weird thing about me that most people don't know."
Yes, very weird. Perhaps the best athlete in school, and the honorary captain of the Daily Herald's 2015 Lake County all-area football team, is performing no better than average in gym class.
"Well, it's actually really hard," said Lees, also a two-time all-stater and a Northwestern football commit. "We have these heartrate monitors that we have to wear when we're doing things and you have to get your heart rate into a certain zone. Like when we're on the bike or something.
"If you're in really good shape, it's hard to get your heart rate going just doing the bike. You have to go really hard, otherwise it's hard to get in that zone."
Anyone who has watched a Libertyville football game over the last two years can attest to the fact that the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Lees is in excellent shape. His workload for four quarters is probably the equivalent of a full workout, maybe two or three.
"The Lees kid is really special," said Glenbard West coach Chad Hetlet, prior to the Class 7A state championship game last weekend in which his team narrowly defeated Lees and previously undefeated Libertyville, 34-28. "He's almost untouchable at times. You can't get a good shot on him. He can sit back in the pocket. He's got a good arm. He keeps plays alive by running around. They get a lot of scores by scramble plays.
"He's the most dangerous player we've ever had to defend at Glenbard West."
The coaches from Normal Community would probably say the same thing. In the Class 7A quarterfinals, Normal Community fell victim to yet another of Lees' heartrate-raising "workouts."
Normal, which had fallen behind by 21 points, had closed the gap to as few as 7 points twice in the second half. But after three of Normal's touchdowns, Lees single-handedly halted its momentum by sprinting for huge touchdown runs on the very next play. Lees and the Libertyville offense would have the ball for less than 30 seconds as Lees abruptly rolled up touchdown runs of 80, 41 and 75 yards, nearly back-to-back-to-back.
"That's our job. We like to score quick and when it happens, we're not surprised by it at this point," Lees said after the Normal game, in which he finished with 314 rushing yards on 30 carries. "Our mentality on offense is that we're going to keep chugging. We just kind of kept going."
Lees, who had many other heartrate-raising moments, such as an 80-yard touchdown run on the very first play of a regular season game against archrival Stevenson, kept going… and going and going… all season, to the tune of an astounding 4,453 yards. He ran for 2,451 yards and 33 touchdowns and passed for 2,002 yards and 28 touchdowns.
Over the last two years, Lees has amassed a mind-boggling 7,734 yards and 106 touchdowns (rushing and passing).
"Every time he touches the ball, Riley believes he's going to score a touchdown," Libertyville coach Mike Jones has said about Lees. "He is a fierce competitor who makes people around him better because of the example he sets. He has shown younger players what it means to commit to being a better football player in the weight room and on the field."
Lees says that a healthy dose of lunges, frequent work with the agility ladder and regular treatments with an electric stimulation machine, which helps to loosen muscles, has kept his legs moving quick over the years.
Now, he's got to work on his hands and catching technique. Northwestern will be using him as a wide receiver.
"Sophomore year (on varsity), I played wide receiver and I held my own," Lees said. "I feel I'm suited for it and will have success there. But it's a position I'm not as familiar with so I have some work to do.
"I'll be going over the playbook, going to some bowl-game practices at Northwestern, talking to the coaches, I'll start (Northwestern's lifting program) soon."
Lees, also a standout baseball player at Libertyville, hasn't decided if he'll have enough time over the coming months to fit in baseball.
"I'm still on the fence about that," Lees said. "I haven't decided about baseball yet."
In the meantime, Lees is enjoying some very rare down time.
Earlier this week, he went home immediately after school for the first time in months.
"I got a haircut," Lees said. "My mom said she was getting sick of looking at my long hair."
Lees, who often wears a headband to control his floppy, feathery hair, still has longer hair. Just not as long.
"I hadn't cut my hair in seven months," Lees said. "I like it longer, plus I don't cut my hair during football anyway.
"That's just what I do during football season."
That, and many, many other things.
So many other things, in fact, that Lees would probably be getting an A+ in gym class had he wore the heartrate monitor during football games.
He certainly would have been in the zone.
pbabcock@dailyherald.com
Follow Patricia on Twitter: @babcockmcgraw