Jordan's Road Trip: Week 1 Defensive Standouts

We kickstarted IHSA Football this past Friday where these young men were finally able to put the pads on in hopes of making a playoff run for their perspective teams. For Week 1, Jordan's Road Trip headed to Peotone to watch the Blue Devils take on Manual (Peoria). This game went down to the wire with big plays on both sides of the ball, at the end Peotone was able to come away with a 24-20 win to clinch their first win of the season. With that being said let's look at the Defensive Standouts for this game below! Peotone (1-0) Manual (0-1) Game Score: 24 - 20 <hr /> [player_tooltip player_id="158016" first="Alex" last="Cardenas"] 6’0 240 DL Peotone Mr. Cardenas does the little things for this defensive unit that gets overlooked when you take a look at the stat sheet. Peotone runs a 3-5 defense meaning they have 3 defensive linemen and five linebackers as their front, that being said this young man plays at nose guard to plug up the gaps in run support. Upon doing so he gets double teamed on each play, this is important because he's able to hold his own which clears up the linebackers to attack downhill to make the play. What I'm interested to see more of out of this young man is his use of hands at the point of attack and using that to beat the double team on a consistent basis as there were a few glimpses of this throughout the game. [player_tooltip player_id="65775" first="Tyler" last="Hendricker"] 6’4 230 DL Peotone This defensive end is one that is widely known throughout the Illinois Central Eight Conference. Mr. Hendricker is quick off the ball where he stays low to the ground getting leverage on the offensive tackle before using his hands at the point of attack to win the one-on-one battle. This results in filling gaps in run support to meet the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage and/or for a tackle for loss. Since he's able to win one on one, he ended up being double-teamed a fair amount in the Week 1 matchup. As you see below, when this young man is being double-teamed he's able to split the double team resulting in getting pressure on the Quarterback to seal the game. https://twitter.com/Jamaskane/status/1432372737746644996?s=20 Joel Lee 6’1 190 LB Peotone I was very impressed with Mr. Lee's performance this past Friday night. He's able to diagnose the play quickly and once he does he attacks downhill to make the play. This takes place by filling holes in run support, covering sideline to sideline to make open-field tackles, and forces incomplete passes by getting his hand in there. This young man has an aggressive playstyle on the defensive side of the ball where he's not afraid to lower his shoulder to deliver the hard hit. Mr. Lee fits perfectly as an outside linebacker for Peotone's defense as he forces the opposing offense to funnel their plays inside the guards instead of bouncing plays outside. Hunter Jellema 6’2 155 LB Peotone Here's Mr. Jellema who holds down the middle of Peotone's defensive unit. He fills holes in run support where he will meet the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage for little to no gain on the play. This young man isn't afraid to deliver the hard-hit with his aggressive playstyle either, once he diagnoses the play he's attacking downhill to make the tackle. Jerome Cranford 5’10 158 DB Manual Switching gears to Manual, let's take a look at Mr. Cranford who had an impressive performance on special teams. He returned a kickoff return for a touchdown, one of two Manual had on the night, and did so in an impressive way. Upon securing the kickoff, this young man accelerated quickly by changing his gears and reads his blocks well. The running lane in front of him closed up so he showcased his change of direction by planting his foot into the ground and reversing the field seeing the cutback lane on the backside which in turn resulting in a touchdown keeping Manual in the game. Mr. Cranford has impressive speed and quick acceleration that once he turns the corner there's no catching him as he blows by the defenders in the clip below. https://twitter.com/Jamaskane/status/1432367616111386637?s=20 Devon Owens DB Manual Mr. Owens plays the alley well at defensive back where he's a downhill hitter and isn't afraid to lower his shoulder to deliver the hard hit on the ball carrier. He diagnoses the run quickly, once he does he pops his hips to attack downhill at the snap of the ball meeting the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage utilizing his closing speed. This young man is also a deadly return man as he had a kickoff return touchdown just like Mr. Cranford did and did so in a similar fashion. Upon receiving the kickoff, he saw the cutback lane open up and burst through it to turn the corner and once he was in open space there was no catching him. Jayshon Carter LB Manual What I like most about Mr. Carter is his hard-hitting ability where he forced a fumble in Friday's contest and laid the boom on more than one occasion. He also fills gaps in run support meeting the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage for no/little gain on the play. Once this young man diagnoses the play he flies to the ball which goes hand in hand with his aggressive playstyle. Overall, keep an eye on how he produces the rest of this season as he can be a focal point for this team moving forward on the defensive side of the ball. <hr /> These are the Defensive Standouts from Jordan's Road Trip, keep an eye on these young men as they head into their Week 2 matchups (Peotone vs North Central & Manual vs Normal Community). 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