Lynnville-Sully’s Vander Leest commits to play Drake football

SULLY — “No way can this be my last year of playing football,” Lynnville-Sully senior Gage Vander Leest said he thought going into his final high school season this fall. He wanted to play college football some where.

Academics led Vander Leest to Drake University in Des Moines.

“I originally looked at Drake for the education because it is an amazing school. It has an awesome pre-medical program, which is the field I’m going to go into,” Vander Leest said. “Then I thought maybe I could play football there so I sent an email and the coaches responded to me.”

Drake doesn’t offer scholarships for football, but Vander Leest was asked to join the team.

Vander Leest made his commitment to Drake on Wednesday.

“Ever since I was a little kid I wanted to play college football,” he said.

He said after meeting the Drake football coaching staff he knew it was the place he wanted to go and play.

“I was caught off guard when Coach (Rick) Fox stepped down recently as head coach, but he had a great staff. They are all super nice, Christian men and I felt as if I was part of the family there,” Vander Leest said.

Vander Leest said he is going to Drake as a defensive player to play strong safety. He played linebacker and strong safety for Lynnville-Sully throughout his four years.

“I’ve always had a nose for the football, and read the quarterback’s eyes” Vander Leest said. “As a strong safety, I can play back in pass defense and come up to defend the run. I think I do both pretty well.”

As a junior, the 5-feet-11 inch and 185-pound Vander Leest was a Class A all-district defensive back for the Hawks. He had 35 solo tackles on the season, 56 total tackles and four tackles for loss and had two interceptions. He recorded 35 solo tackles and 21 assisted tackles again as a senior with one quarterback sack and one fumble recovery.

Vander Leest earned Class A second-team all-state honors as a running back for Lynnville-Sully for his senior season. As the team’s starting quarterback, Vander Leest rushed for 1,128 yards on 180 carries and 13 TDs. He finished with 41 completions on 65 attempts passing for 628 yards. He had six TD passes and one interception.

Over his four years for Lynnville-Sully, Vander Leest has had 105 solo tackles and 60 assisted tackles. He has recovered four fumbles and had three interceptions — one returned for a touchdown.

The Hawks have gone 32-10 in that four-year span. Vander Leest’s junior season, Lynnville-Sully was 9-1 and went undefeated in the regular season.

“I’m so excited about this opportunity. I’m looking forward to making more memories and life-long friends,” Vander Leest said. “I’m looking for that brotherhood and great guys to be around in my college years.”

Vander Leest is a multi-sport athlete at Lynnville-Sully. He was on the Hawks’ Class 1A silver medal winning shuttle hurdle relay team at the 2018 state track meet. He also earned the sixth-place medal in the 1A 110-meter high hurdles at the state meet.

Vander Leest is a member of the Lynnville-Sully basketball team. The Hawks qualified for the 1A state tournament for the 2017-18 season.

He is the son of Michelle and Troy Vander Leest of Lynnville.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
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or jsheets@newtondailynews.com