Football is his niche. He dominates every aspect of the game on both sides of the ball and has built up a reputation as of one of the elite athletes to walk the halls of Glendale.    “It was definitely sophomore year,” Leake said.  “Up until then I played baseball and basketball.  But sophomore year, when I played varsity, I knew I had an knack to play football, no matter what position it was at.” Varsity became a possibility when Leake started to stand out at practice, and previous Head Coach Hurst was impressed with his athleticism.  Leake became the only starting sophomore that season.   “Hurst liked what he saw on defense,” Leake said.  “He put me in on some reps for defense and I ended up playing cornerback.  Since the second quarter of the first game, I’ve played every quarter of every game.”  For running back, Leake didn’t pick up much experience at the position until his eighth grade year.  He still was primarily a nose guard.  But after growing up a little bit, he was set to impress.     “I didn’t start at the beginning of the year,” Leake said.  “Then I showed them I had an knack for running the ball and I did pretty well.”   His sophomore season, the team was 7-4, and blew through district play making them 5A district champs. Leake was the only true sophomore that got any time, and he didn’t disappoint.  When he lined up his first varsity snap on the other side of star wide receiver Derek Libby from Camdenton, he had to adapt to the game speed immediately.  Libby was sent on a deep route, and Leake broke up the pass. His defensive statistics led the secondary.   “I led the team in interceptions and passes broken up,” said Leake.   When junior year came along, Leake was more improved on defense with a year of experience under his belt.  By district time, the team was 0-5.  Leake first took the majority of his handoffs in a three-peat win over Kickapoo 27-3.  After his stud performance of bringing the team back from a 0-3 score at half, he was the starter.   “Nobody really thought about me on offense,” Leake said.  “But I told (Coach) Heman I wanted to run the ball some, and when I got to start at running back, I jumped out on the scene.”   Leake had 670 yards on 66 carries, averaging 10.3 yards a carry with 11 touchdowns, and that was only for half the season.  Leake carried the injury-plagued team through districts, finishing 4-1 with a state playoff birth.   “Once I started playing running back, everything just opened up,” Leake said.  “ It’s my pure position and it just comes naturally.”   The offensive side of the ball is where Leake really feels at home.   “Its just something that I don’t have to think about,” Leake said.  “I can just go out there, I can run it, and I’ll do well at it.  I like scoring touchdowns, and I just like that offensive aspect of the game.”   Senior Jordan Lewis has been a teammate and friend of Leake’s since the eighth grade, and has seen him put in time and effort to become a better athlete.    “What makes him so good is his ability to cut and stop on a dime,” Lewis said.  “He also has great change of direction.”   His running style is a self-described “shifty” running style.   “It’s kind of like a Barry Sanders or LeSean McCoy from Pittsburgh,” Leake said.  “Or if you’ve seen Demarco Murray for Oklahoma he’s kind of the same way. I’d rather run around somebody than through them. It’s just how I do it.”   Leake took on a whole different persona in middle school.  He was a leader on the defense, but it wasn’t in the secondary.   “I started at offensive guard and nose tackle,” Leake said.  “Then my grandad was talking to me and he told me to go up to the coaches and tell them ‘I wanted to run the ball and it was in my blood.’”   Leake’s grandfather Buddy, was the first freshman phenom running back at the University of Oklahoma beginning in 1953. By Buddy’s senior year, the Sooners began their historic 47-game winning streak under coach Bud Wilkinson.  His grandad wore the number 22, and that’s how the infamous number was born.   “22 was an easy choice for me,” Leake said.  “In eighth grade when I actually got to get a running back number, I knew exactly what I wanted because I knew my granddad was 22, and I just wanted to carry on his legacy as much as I could.”   When Leake got his shot his sophomore year, coaches were impressed with his intensity and raw talent.   “When he was a sophomore practicing with juniors, we knew he was a good player,” Heman said.  “He understands direction right away and knows how to execute it.”   Leake has put on a good 20 pounds of muscle, and dropped his 40-yard dash time by a good two-tenths of a second since his sophomore year.  The 5”10’ 165 pound Leake has made drastic physical improvements to keep him acclimated to the Varsity game speed.   “All around I’m just bigger, faster, and stronger,” said Leake   The intangibles translate into being a leader to his teammates.   “The whole team looks to him for leadership,” Heman said.  “He’s not a big talker, he leads with his actions.”   As far as football at the next level, Leake has received letters from Truman State and Ohio Westlyan, but Leake would rather walk on at West Point.  “Right now I’d really like to go to Army,” Leake said.  “I wanna try to walk on and see how that goes.”   This year, Leake took on the quarterback job at the beginning of the year due to issues with depth.  But as of late, Leake is back taking handoffs.  With a rough 0-6 start and a devastating loss to Kickapoo, he’s going to keep plugging along and continue doing what he does best.   “I’m going to keep playing for the memories,” Leake said.  “No matter what the record is.”