CCL Top Defenders: White Division

The CCL has many talented players in each division as they produce college prospects year in and year out. Today we will be diving into the CCL White Division Top Defenders, these teams include Marmion Academy, St. Ignatius, Joliet Catholic Academy, and Fenwick. <hr /> Marmion Academy: Maxwell Lambert 21’ OLB 6’3 200 Lambert gets to his pass coverage drops quickly resulting in getting an interception, fills holes in run support, and makes open-field tackles. He's quick off the line of scrimmage which enables him to get the edge on his opponent, in doing so he gets off of blocks to make the tackle. Lambert has the closing speed to cover sideline to sideline, attack downhill, and make plays for this defensive unit. Jack Scales 21’ CB 5’11 170 Scales reads plays rather quickly, once he diagnoses the play he plants his foot to attack downhill and jumps routes. During pass coverage, he stays with his man deflecting passes and high points the ball to intercept the ball creating a turnover. Jacob Bottarini 22’ MLB 6’0 213 Bottarini is at the helm of this defense, whether he's in coverage or filling holes in the running game Bottarini covers sideline to sideline with closing speed and attacks. He fills holes in run support, takes pursuit angles to make the tackle, and doesn't give up on plays. Bottarini is quick off the ball where he's able to diagnose the play, plant his foot and attack the ballcarrier. He has a high upside heading into the spring season, keep an eye on his development. St. Ignatius: Cam Roberson 21’ OLB 6’1 187 Roberson takes pursuit angles to make the tackle, doesn't give up on plays, and attacks. He gets pressure on the QB by getting in the backfield once the ball is snapped. Once Roberson gets off the block he uses his closing speed to make the tackle. He's able to cover sideline to sideline and make plays for this defensive unit. Jack Clisham 22’ MLB 6’0 180 Clisham is an aggressive MLB with an attacking playstyle, he's all over special teams making the tackle and blocking for kick returns. He makes open-field tackles and doesn't give up on plays. In pass coverage, Clisham deflects passes, in run support he fills holes to make the play. Overall, look for Clisham to have a bigger role in this defensive unit this upcoming spring season. Jack Malloy 22’ CB 6’0 170 Malloy is an aggressive CB that has quick acceleration/speed, he uses this speed to take pursuit angles making the tackle downfield. He makes open-field tackles with closing speed and attacks downhill to fill holes in run support. Malloy still has untapped potential and it's going to be a sight to see how he developed with this overly extended off-season. Joliet Catholic Academy: <img class=" wp-image-45055 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/05/jabri-e1597939602201-300x208.jpg" alt="" width="174" height="121" /> [player_tooltip player_id="20346" first="Jabril" last="Williams"] 21’ S Williams has quick acceleration and the speed to cover sideline to sideline once he diagnoses the play. He stays with his man in coverage where he deflects passes and can make open-field tackles once the ball is dumped to the QB's checkdown utilizing his closing speed to do so. Williams also fills holes in run support by attacking downhill, he's a playmaker on this defensive unit and makes plays to get the ball back to his offense. [player_tooltip player_id="65814" first="Robby" last="Purchase"] III 22’ MLB 5’11 215 Purchase fills holes in run support where he attacks and gets pressure on the QB. He takes pursuit angles to make tackles downfield and makes open-field tackles when he's in his pass coverage drops. Purchase has a high upside as he still has room to hone his craft, look to see his improvement show during this spring season. <img class=" wp-image-57341 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/10/Anthony-Kasper-292x300.jpg" alt="" width="196" height="201" /> Anthony Kasper 21’ OLB 5’10 182 Kasper takes pursuit angles to make the tackle downfield, fill holes in run support and gets to pass coverage drops quickly. His playstyle is more of an attacking one which is shown when he gets pressure on the QB and uses his closing speed to make open-field tackles. Daveon Washington 21’ CB 6’1 190 Washington is an aggressive CB, he stays with his man in coverage where he high points the ball resulting in intercepting the pass. When he's in coverage he plays the man over the ball watching the WR eyes before getting his hand in the WR basket to deflect the pass. Washington doesn't give up on plays by taking pursuit angles to make the tackle downfield, runs the WR off his routes by utilizing the sideline as the second defender, and diagnoses plays quickly. He gets off of blocks to make the tackle where delivers a hard hit by attacking downhill. Washington is one of the dominant players on this defensive unit loaded with talent, keep an eye on him during the spring season, and don't be surprised to see his name in the papers. Fenwick: <img class=" wp-image-57624 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/10/Quin-Wieties-269x300.jpg" alt="" width="186" height="208" /> [player_tooltip player_id="20915" first="Quin" last="Wieties"] 22’ OLB 6’3 230 Wieties gets pressure on the QB where he also holds contain. He's quick off the line of scrimmage which helps him get that split second step over the offensive lineman enabling him to get into the backfield to make plays. Wieties gets his hands up when rushing the passer which results in passes being deflected and he takes pursuit angles to make the tackle. Wieties will be a name to watch this spring season for Fenwick, their dominant offense is what gets a lot of attention but don't forget about their playmakers on the defensive side of the ball. Notables: Jakob Saunders 22’ DT 6’0 225 - Marmion Academy EJ Talarico 21 CB 5’10 160 4.1 GPA - St. Ignatius Vinny Rugai 23’ MLB 5’10 165 - St. Ignatius <hr /> These defensive players in the CCL White Division are stellar, some have offers to play at the next level while others are still in the recruiting process. Least to say that all of these athletes are going to play a vital role in each team’s defensive scheme this season. Keep an eye out on these players as I wouldn’t be surprised if you see their names in the newspapers week in and week out.