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Blue Springs, MO —
If Elijah Lee keeps winning postseason awards, the Blue Springs High School junior defensive end might need to build a new wing onto his home.
“That would be OK with me,” Lee said with a chuckle Thursday afternoon when he found that he had been named to the second team of the MaxPreps Junior All-American squad at linebacker.
He has already been named to the Missouri Class 6 all-state team, was named The Examiner’s co-Defensive Player of the Year and earned the Buck Buchanan Award as the top large-school lineman or linebacker in the metro area.
“I just want to win all those awards next year because it will mean that I helped my team every game,” said Lee, a transfer from St. Joseph Central High School. “The honors are nice, but the best honor was winning state.”
Lee’s 71 tackles, including 33.5 for a loss, and 18.5 sacks paved the way for what coach Kelly Donohoe called one of the most dominating defenses he has ever coached.
“We knew this defense had the chance to be special, and it was,” Donohoe said. “And we have Elijah back next year, which is really exciting. He’s a great kid and was a great Christmas present for the Wildcat football program.
“It took about one practice to realize how good he was going to be.”
Perhaps Lee’s best game came against Rockhurst in a 14-11 state quarterfinal win, in which he had 10 tackles and four sacks.
“He could just take over a game and dominate the other team,” Donohoe said.
Lee said he was surprised to learn about his most recent honor.
“You know what’s really crazy?” Lee asked. “I’m just 16 and all these good things are happening to me. I watched (Raytown High School graduate) Aldon Smith play at Missouri and thought to myself, ‘I want to play like him.’ I’m not even close to Aldon Smith right now, but I want to be some day.
“All these awards are going to make me work that much harder next year. We want to win another state championship – that’s the only goal we have for next season.”
If Elijah Lee keeps winning postseason awards, the Blue Springs High School junior defensive end might need to build a new wing onto his home.
“That would be OK with me,” Lee said with a chuckle Thursday afternoon when he found that he had been named to the second team of the MaxPreps Junior All-American squad at linebacker.
He has already been named to the Missouri Class 6 all-state team, was named The Examiner’s co-Defensive Player of the Year and earned the Buck Buchanan Award as the top large-school lineman or linebacker in the metro area.
“I just want to win all those awards next year because it will mean that I helped my team every game,” said Lee, a transfer from St. Joseph Central High School. “The honors are nice, but the best honor was winning state.”
Lee’s 71 tackles, including 33.5 for a loss, and 18.5 sacks paved the way for what coach Kelly Donohoe called one of the most dominating defenses he has ever coached.
“We knew this defense had the chance to be special, and it was,” Donohoe said. “And we have Elijah back next year, which is really exciting. He’s a great kid and was a great Christmas present for the Wildcat football program.
“It took about one practice to realize how good he was going to be.”
Perhaps Lee’s best game came against Rockhurst in a 14-11 state quarterfinal win, in which he had 10 tackles and four sacks.
“He could just take over a game and dominate the other team,” Donohoe said.
Lee said he was surprised to learn about his most recent honor.
“You know what’s really crazy?” Lee asked. “I’m just 16 and all these good things are happening to me. I watched (Raytown High School graduate) Aldon Smith play at Missouri and thought to myself, ‘I want to play like him.’ I’m not even close to Aldon Smith right now, but I want to be some day.
“All these awards are going to make me work that much harder next year. We want to win another state championship – that’s the only goal we have for next season.”
