The Galveston County Daily News

GALVESTON — Four years and 60 pounds ago, Corey Lee was just a young freshman looking to find a spot on the O’Connell Buccaneers football team.

In the past four years, Lee has not only matured physically (he’s up to 220 pounds), he’s also become a leader for the Bucs.

“Corey has gotten a lot more mature in the classroom and on the football field,” O’Connell coach Patrick Danesi said. “He’s strong, a great athlete and a good leader. The best thing is that he is a good kid. At the end of the day, that’s what we want these kids to leave being — good people.”

Lee has been the Bucs’ biggest two-way threat since his sophomore season, scoring double-digit touchdowns as a running back and recording more than 100 tackles at linebacker each of the past two seasons.

He’s on pace to that again as a senior, already piling up more than 100 tackles this year with two games remaining in the regular season.

“I think I’ve become a lot better tackler over the past few years,” Lee said. “I’m still not the scat back on offense, but that’s OK. I like to run over people better anyway.”

Danesi said it’s Lee’s aggressiveness that makes him such a good football player.

“He’s not afraid of contact,” Danesi said. “He’ll go after guys looking to hit them. There have been plenty of times I’ve seen him carrying four or five guys for extra yards. That’s all about strength and effort.”

It should be no surprise that Lee is able to dominate opponents on the football field with his strength. After all, he holds the World Association of Bench and Deadlifters world record for dead lift in the 16-17-year-old division. He had a lift of 562 pounds in the 198-pound weight class this summer.

It was the second world record, fourth state record, he set during his high school career.

“I actually wasn’t going to do it this summer, but then someone beat my previous record,” Lee said. “So I had to go back and get the record back again. That’s definitely my biggest accomplishment in my high school career.”

Lee has received several letters for colleges to play football. However, he said he would rather play baseball at the next level. His hope is to go to Galveston College.

Danesi said no matter what sport Lee decides to play, he will be successful in college.

“He’s a good athlete, and that’s what college teams want,” Danesi said. “He has the ability to play either football or baseball and be great.”

That’s not on Lee’s mind right now, though. Instead, he’s focused on leading O’Connell to victory in its next two games. The Bucs host Beaumont Legacy at 7:30 p.m. today.

If O’Connell (3-3 record, 1-1 district) wins out, it would host a playoff game for the first time in Lee’s four years with the program.

“Getting that home playoff game would be nice,” Lee said. “That’s something that I’ve been missing in my career, and I’d love if we could accomplish that this year.”