Kansas Pregame 8-Man Top 8: Kyle Reese

Kansas Pregame polled 8-Man coaches earlier this month who voted for the top four seniors they coached against this season. Kansas Pregame staffers then used those votes to develop a Top 8 list of seniors for each division. Kansas Pregame will provide features for each of the 16 Top 8 selections. Check out the 11th of those profiles below:

Kyle Reese, QB/LB/P, 5-10, 180, Lebo, 8-Man Division II

Lebo’s Kyle Reese has shown a knack for doing whatever he’s asked on the football field at a high level throughout his high school career, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.

In his first year on varsity, as a sophomore, Reese was a productive receiver, catching 34 passes for 535 yards and five touchdowns, along with 35 carries for 139 rushing yards and two more scores, helping the Wolves to a 7-3 season.

In 2020, the junior took on a far heavier load as a ball carrier, rushing 58 times for 587 yards and 10 touchdowns, adding a healthy 31 receptions for 458 yards and 10 more trips to the end zone.

Lebo was a tough team to beat that season, advancing all the way to the quarterfinals before suffering their only loss of the season in a 46-40 match with Frankfort, leaving them with a 10-1 mark. Senior 2020 Pregame 8-Man Top 8 quarterback Devan McEwan combined with Reese to make a dynamic duo throughout the season, but with McEwan graduating, the signal-caller duties would have to fall upon someone new.

Reese had no problem catching on quickly, as the senior went 75-123 passing for 1,361 yards and 24 touchdowns to just four interceptions, adding another 1,261 yards on the ground on 137 carries for 29 more scores.

“I think my biggest strength at quarterback is being a dual-threat and spreading the ball around,” Reese said. “We had a great offensive line and talented receivers.”

With the help of his line and targets in the passing game, Lebo made another deep playoff run, again advancing to the quarterfinals before getting knocked out by a tough Thunder Ridge team, giving them a 9-2 record.

“I thought Kyle handled the transition to quarterback amazingly,” head coach Brian Hadley said. “I knew he was a great runner but he truly became a great passer as the season progressed. His ability to read the defense and run our read plays - RPO plays - was very impressive. His stats as a passer were just as impressive as his rushing stats!” 
 
Reese was no less impressive defensively, as a senior he had 48 tackles, seven tackles-for-loss, two sacks, and an interception. Over his career, he compiled a total of 184 tackles, 18 tackles-for-loss, five sacks, two hurries, two interceptions, and three recoveries.
 
The leatherhead-esque utility player also returned kicks and punts throughout his career, kicked-off, and was an all-state punter as a senior.
 
“Kyle’s biggest strength is his toughness and desire to compete,” Hadley said. “He is also a student of the game and puts a lot of time into watching film to improve.”
 
The senior is currently uncommitted, but plans to study pre-medicine and play college baseball after he’s wrapped up his senior year.

“Kyle was a great leader and with him on the field the team knew we had a great chance to win,” coach Hadley said. “He was always a leader in the weight room and led by example in previous seasons, but he was a great verbal leader his senior season. Kyle also leads by example in the classroom and is part of National Honor Society and multiple clubs. Can’t say enough good things about what he has accomplished in high school. He is also a starter on the basketball team, participates in track and is one of our best baseball players. His passion is baseball and Kyle is working hard to continue playing baseball in college.”

*Editor's Note: Kansas Pregame has opted to include only seniors in our Top 8 list in an effort to reward them for their success in high school. This year, especially in Division II, there were a number of top players who were juniors. Axtell's Isaac Detweiler, Wheatland-Grinnell's Jett Vincent and Thunder Ridge's Dylan Bice are just a few of those likely among the Top 8 players in the classification. Fortunately, multiple other outlets have recognized those athletes for their contributions this season and Kansas Pregame will consider each of them for feature coverage in our 2022 Football Preview along with the many other top returning players from across the state.