East football unveils new rushing star in Zy’Air Lee in season-opening win over Jefferson
Zy’Air Lee has a message for those who wondered about East after the graduation of Javius Catlin, the NIC-10’s all-time leading rusher.
“Tonight was the night to show that just one person doesn’t change the whole football team,” Lee said after scoring three touchdowns Thursday in East’s season-opening 32-20 win over Jefferson.
And East coach Gary Griffin had a message for those who maybe wondered about the E-Rabs when they trailed heading into the fourth quarter.
“Our style is physical,” Griffin said. “It’s just a little time before we start wearing people down.”
Being physical for an E-Rab has nothing to do with size. Lee is generously listed at 5-foot-7 and 155 pounds. But he broke a tackle in the backfield and bounced backward before scoring on a 7-yard run that tied the game at 6-6. And he scored on a 24-yard run to pull East to within 14-12 midway through the third quarter after the play twice looked like it was over.
The first time was when a referee threw a flag for a flagrant facemask penalty. Then, after Lee refused to go down, he was swarmed by several tacklers, pushed back again, but again broke free and scored.
“He got face-masked and got his whole head turned around,” Griffin said.
“My boy, he was going crazy carrying us,” said Chris Tolliver, East’s first-team all-conference defensive back who also ran five times for 66 yards, including a 44-yard burst that set up East’s first score."
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Lashawn Gathright (107 yards on 14 carries) and Sebastian Bracius (162 yards passing, 61 yards rushing) kept Jefferson either ahead or at worst tied for three quarters. But East ran for 129 of its 294 yards in the fourth quarter to pull away. Tyeshaun Whittie had 122 yards and a TD on 13 carries for the E-Rabs, but this was Lee’s day.
“I am proud of him,” Griffin said. “He’s been patient. He’s been waiting to play. So he’s hungry.”
“It was hard,” Lee said of waiting until his senior year to get much playing time, “but now is my time, so I am going to do me. I just want to embrace the moment and have a huge impact on the team.”
Matt Trowbridge is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at mtrowbridge@rrstar.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @MattTrowbridge.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Zy'Air Lee, Tyeshawn Whittie lead Rockford East past Jefferson
