South Jersey high school football recruit profile: Kingsway senior Benny Liles III
Each week, the South Jersey Gridiron Gang will introduce high school football fans to a local senior that has been overlooked during the recruiting process.
This week on The Underrecruited: Kingsway’s Benny Liles III.
Benny Liles III
High school: Kingsway
Age: 17
Position: WR/DB
Height: 5-11
Weight: 160
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Résumé: Three-year starter has set nearly every receiving record in program history. He holds the marks for catches in a game (10 vs. Cherokee, Oct. 13, 2023), season (46, 2023) and career (99), receiving yards in a game (197, Aug. 25, 2023), and receiving touchdowns in a season (11, 2023; tied with Kevin Zehner in 2017) and career (21). His 861 yards this year are 213 from surpassing the school record of 1,073, set by Zehner in 2017 as well.
Grade-point average: 2.87
40-yard dash: 4.59
Bench press: 200 pounds
Squat: 385 pounds
Current offers: None
Watch the film: Nov. 4, 2022 vs. Cherokee; Aug. 25, 2023 vs. Egg Harbor Township; Sept. 15, 2023 vs. Vineland
What areas did Liles want to improve heading into his senior season? “My route running, snapping off those routes, getting the depth I need to get to, and also my speed. My speed wasn’t there last year, but now it’s getting there. And also my weight. I need to get a little bulkier to play at the next level.”
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What areas did head coach Mark Hendricks want Liles to improve on heading into the fall? “Those things that he just mentioned, in addition to leadership goals. Being a leader amongst our skill players. … Benny really developed in the offseason understanding more how to stack defensive backs. When he would get in behind ’em, he really did a nice job stacking. … He does need to, in his words, bulk up for the press technique that he’s going to see at the next level. He’s going to have guys that challenge his route running and try to disrupt his timing and things like that, but he’s been able to slip through and he’s been able to work some technique and hand knockdowns and things like that, but in order to play at the next level, he’s got to continue to work on his speed and be stronger and more physical.”
How did Liles change his approach knowing he’d be the No. 1 target this year? “My leadership. Put guys where they needed to be and know what their role is as a receiver, and get them to run good routes because if I get hurt, the next guy has to step up and be ready to play.”
How does Hendricks feel Liles has grown in 2023? “Last year, Benny would get a touch and it was almost like OK, we were good at being able to spread the ball around. … Now what you’re seeing is, we run one concept one way, and we come back and we’re going to try to keep attacking you with where he is on the football field. We try to push the ball his way because he’s been a force here with every team we’ve played against, and he’s one guy that knows how to separate and gives us a chance to win games.”
How does Hendricks feel Liles has handled the extra responsibility? “It’s certainly physically demanding. You look at, even this last week, he touched the ball 10 different times, but there’s that extra 10 plays in there where he’s working hard to try and get reasonably open in those situations. The improvement I’ve seen in terms of his blocking is tremendously improved. We say it all the time, how important blocking is, especially blocking on the perimeter. It’s one thing he’s just gotten so much better at because it’s much more important to him now than it was going back a couple years ago. It’s great seeing that lightbulb go off for somebody who’s a senior and somebody who aspires to play at the college level and at a high level. We’re just excited about his progress. We think he’s going to be someone that someone’s going to take a shot on and they’re going to get themselves a really good player who knows how to play in space, knows how to separate, and, the one thing that’s probably the most underrated about him is the ability to catch the ball. He catches everything. ... He’s sneaky with how he can go up and adjust to the ball vertically down the field, just his way to uncover and that extension at the end that a lot of people panic around the ball, the ball’s in the air and they panic around the ball. There’s no panic out of him.”
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What have college coaches told Hendricks about Liles? “From a physicality standpoint, they want to see guys that run a good 40 time and have a physical presence, and that’s something he’s continued to work on and build towards. I think that for Benny, his better days are ahead. I think Benny’s going to be somebody that a couple years from now, you’re going to look back on and when he’s with a strength and conditioning coach, it’s going to make all the difference for him at the college level. They love his separation, how he catches the ball with his hands, patient around the ball, they like his playmaking ability even into the open field. That’s another thing that I think he’s gotten better at this year. The nine touchdown passes he caught a year ago, a lot of them were jump balls or vertical routes where he ran by someone. … We talk a lot about one cut and get vertical, and that’s what college coaches have said about his previous film, they don’t want to see as much dancing. They want to see more than straight line vertical speed. Going back to the Washington Township game, he catches a ball in first quarter of the game, makes a guy miss and then outruns five guys to the end zone.”
What have college coaches told Liles during the recruiting process? “One of the camps I went to, Syracuse, they said they liked the way I get off the ball, the way I get off press, use my hands, and stacking on top, and when the ball is up in the air, I’m obviously going to go grab that, go grab the ball. (Negative), they’ll say you’re too tiny, you’re not big enough, you’re not tall enough, but I’m not going to let that get to my head. I’m going to keep working.”
Hendricks spent several years coaching at Rowan and James Madison. Where does he think Liles fits best? “I see him as an offensive weapon in college, and the thing he’ll need to do is, again, he’ll need to bulk up, he’ll need to become stronger and improve on his route running. That’s going to separate him. I do think he could play at corner. … (At James Madison), we recruited guys that could play on the offensive side of the ball, could play on the defense, and based upon your needs they could fit into your needs. ... There was a kid I recruited out of Atlantic City, Leavander Jones. … We ended up getting him and Leavander’s film was a lot more offensive than it was defense, but for us, at 5-foot-11, long arms, he could do a backflip like that and you go, wow. From a defensive perspective you love to have him, and as a DB coach it was exciting to recruit him. You watch (Benny), he does a lot of the same things. He can jump out in the hallway and do a backflip like it’s nothing.”
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How does Liles feel he’s played in 2023? “I’ve gotten a lot better since the beginning of the season. My hands, my hands got way better than last year and the beginning of the season, my route running, and especially my blocking. My blocking was my biggest weak point for the past couple years.”
Has Liles met Hendricks’ expectations this season? “He’s exceeded. I knew we’d have to find ways to try and get him the ball, but I didn’t know what that was going to look like. We’re still able to get him the ball with a sophomore quarterback who’s now starting for us the last three games. That’s hard to do. … We’re still able to do some of the things we want to do with him and get him moving around and catching shallow routes, catching hitches, and taking some of the other stuff and allowing for some runs after catch. I think that’s one area he’s done such a better job of when he catches the ball underneath. He's not dancing. He’s getting vertical, he’s hitting things, he’s running more physical than he ever has and he's blocking more physical.”
What would Liles tell college coaches about why they should recruit him? “I’m going to outwork the person in front of me. I don’t care how big you are, how strong, you got to have the mindset you’re going to beat me because I have the mindset I’m coming for your spot and I’m going to get that spot. That spot is going to become mine sooner or later.”
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What would Hendricks tell college coaches about Liles? “I’ve been watching him do what he just said in every bit of competition since he’s been in eighth grade. He’s got an ability to just go get the ball. He doesn’t look like that guy who’s going to take it, but when that ball is in the air, he’s one of those guys you depend on and rely on. He’s so dependable and reliable with regard to where he needs to be, executing his assignments. He is an offensive threat, and he has the ability to be someone’s No. 1. … He’s our all-time leading receiver here. We’re a 60-40 run-to-pass type of a team that has gotten to the point where we need to get this kid the ball. He’s played against the top competition in South Jersey and he’s risen to the occasion in every game that any reporter or anybody’s been around. I think he’s underrecruited, and I think it has to do with size and stature, but those are two areas where I would tell you that I think Benny is just starting to scratch the surface. It wouldn’t surprise me based on the size of his father (6-foot-4) (that Liles grows) over the next two years and looks a lot different physically (he grew more than two inches since last year). Somebody’s going to get a great player.”
Josh Friedman has produced award-winning South Jersey sports coverage for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and the Burlington County Times for more than a decade. If you have or know of an interesting story to tell, reach out on Twitter at @JFriedman57 or via email at jfriedman2@gannettnj.com. You can also contact him at 856-486-2431. Help support local journalism with a subscription.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Recruit breakdown: Closer look at Kingsway receiver Benny Liles III
