LITTLETON — Theo Lee was just like any other freshman at Arapahoe High School, sitting in science class. Except most freshmen don’t receive phone calls like the one Lee did in March.
The guy on the other line was part of the coaching staff from Kent State, calling to offer Lee his first FBS college scholarship.
“I had to run out of class,” Lee said. “I was crying happy tears. It was awesome.”
Lee hadn’t yet started a varsity game, and already had his first offer. He made his second start Friday night for the Warriors, and the 6-foot-5, 235-pound sophomore couldn’t contain his delight yet again.
Helped by a stifling defense and a breakout game from new senior wideout Landon Drumm, Lee and the Warriors thumped Heritage, 35-14, at a packed LPS Stadium to retain the Milk Jug in the 50th edition of the rivalry contest.
Lee completed 19 of 30 passes for 258 yards. He threw three touchdown passes, including two to Drumm, and ran for a score.
“That was awesome,” Lee said. “That had to be the most fun game I’ve ever played in. Last year, I took the year off from basketball, and I’ve been looking forward to this game.
“… It’s better than I even expected. It was like a concert at halftime. They had the light show going, lights off, loud music with the DJ. It’s just really cool for the whole city of Littleton. We don’t like Heritage, but it’s really cool that we do this with them.”
Heritage took the opening kickoff and marched down the field for a quick 7-0 lead. It was all Arapahoe after that.
The Warriors have a pair of veteran stars, and they delivered. Air Force commit Brody Sieck had a huge strip sack to get the ball back in the third quarter when the outcome was still in doubt. Two-way standout and Princeton commit Trajan Frasier had 62 yards on the ground and a touchdown.
But it was the two new guys who helped Arapahoe shake off a Week 1 shutout loss to Mountain Vista with a huge offensive night. Drumm had eight catches for 145 yards — it would have been more, but he was flagged for hurdling tacklers twice — and added a great snag on a two-point conversion to go with his two touchdowns.
Drumm, a senior whose father played at Colorado with his coach, Tyler Brayton, transferred to Arapahoe from South High School in Anchorage, Alaska, and has quickly become Lee’s go-to target.
“Theo is great. When I got here, I was living with him for about a week, so we really started to build that connection then,” Drumm said. “Me and Theo work hard in practice, and we’re going to keep doing it.”
Lee has a big arm and a big personality. The Warriors didn’t ask him to run often against Heritage, but his two carries were a bulldozing plunge for a two-point conversion and a 1-yard sneak for a touchdown.
A week ago, Lee completed 10 of 25 passes for 81 yards.
“It’s super exciting to have obviously a big, strong, talented young quarterback like that,” Brayton said. “It’s also a little bit of a learning process for him. We have to grow with him and be patient with him. We know there’s going to be a lot of great things, then some things we’d rather have back. The goal is for him to just learn and gain more experience, more confidence.
“He made a huge jump. It wasn’t just him. We talked about how the whole team needed to make a big jump.”
Lee’s Twitter/X profile says he’s a quarterback and a power forward. The time off from the hardwood to focus on football appeared to pay off Friday night.
While he certainly appreciated the early offer from Kent State, he said his goal is to play for a Power 4 school. And he has other aspirations beyond his athletic career.
“When I grow up, I want to be a firefighter,” Lee said. “I’ve always wanted to be a firefighter, so hopefully one day I can do that.”
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