Hoffman Estates two-way player Riley Lennert just wants to make plays

For Hoffman Estates running back and middle linebacker Riley Lennert, fatigue is a luxury his team cannot afford.

“We want Riley to get 10 to 15 touches a game offensively. But we need him defensively to not come off the field,” said Hawks coach Tim Heyse.

“For example, against Rolling Meadows when our other running back (Braylin Scales) went down, we sat (Lennert) on two series defensively and they scored on both series,” Heyse said.

That was Week 3, when Lennert made 14 tackles and ran the ball 21 times for 256 yards, with touchdown runs of 69 and 60 yards in a 33-19 Hawks victory.

Last week, in a 35-15 home win over Elk Grove that evened Hoffman Estates’ record at 2-2, Lennert carried the ball 32 times for 213 yards and 3 touchdowns. He added 9 tackles.

Adding to the load, Lennert is Hoffman Estates’ long snapper on punt, field goal, and extra-point attempts.

Two-way players must summon the will to play through fatigue.

“It’s just something you’ve got to deal with,” Lennert said after practice earlier this week.

“You’ve got to push through it, it’s all I can give. You have to empty the tank, that’s what you’ve got to do,” he said.

A junior, Lennert provides yeoman effort at 5-foot-10 and 165 pounds. He also must fill up the tank.

The day before the hot Aug. 21 season opener, Lennert said he consumed three electrolyte packets. He followed with three more on game day, then two bottles of energy drinks and two bottles of water during the game.

“I had to drink pickle juice, even, at halftime because you don’t want to cramp up,” Lennert said.

Some teams have the quality and depth to go nearly, or totally, two-platoon. Small schools may depend almost entirely on two-way starters.

Hoffman Estates, with a good-sized varsity roster of more than 70 players this season, has always had its share of two-way starters, Heyse said.

He noted Jashawn Johnson, Jaylan Alexander, and Nate Cleveland, now a sophomore linebacker at Minnesota who also played quarterback at Hoffman Estates.

Lennert drew inspiration from players like them since he began watching the Hawks in sixth grade.

“I want to be like that,” he said.

Now he is. Lennert has 64 carries for 502 yards rushing — 7.8 yards a carry — with five touchdowns, and has made 38 tackles.

In a supporting role on offense last season as a sophomore, Lennert ran for 157 yards and three touchdowns. Starting at middle linebacker, he made 68 tackles.

Heyse even pulled him up as a freshman to start at middle linebacker in Hoffman Estates’ 2024 Class 7A second-round playoff game against Lincoln-Way Central.

“Riley’s a determined player, offense and defense,” said Scales, who has run for 184 yards.

“He helps out a lot on offense and defense, but he’s a real killer on the defense, for sure. He sets the tone. Any hole he sees, he fills,” Scales said.

Talent is one way never to leave the field. So is the ability to understand plays, coverages and assignments on both sides of the ball.

Heyse described Lennert as a mature, driven player with a 3.5 grade-point average. Lennert finishes his school work then studies film during a break in the day or at home, about 30 minutes, daily.

“He’s a great example for our younger kids,” Heyse said. “A kid who’s no-nonsense, one of the hardest workers on our team, doesn’t miss a day.

“Weight room attendance is 100%. He’s here in the mornings if it’s early-morning workouts. He doesn’t miss agilities in the off-season, he gets good grades, he never has missed assignments, teachers love him.

“He’s what you want everyone in your program to be,” Heyse said.

Lennert doesn’t have a favorite, offense or defense. His calling is all of the above.

“Whatever position I can make more plays at is what I’m going to have fun doing,” he said.