Southern California Top Defensive Performances: Week 6

<strong>Owen Duckworth, Villa Park, 2022</strong> Duckworth is the vocal leader of the Spartans and his play reflects that. He had 18 total tackles with 13 solo tackles and four sacks in a win against Jurupa Hills. He is one of the best pass rushers in Orange County and does it against pretty good competition. I saw him in person against a good Orange team and he was constantly in the backfield. He is on the skinnier side which probably scares off some major college scouts, but he has great football instincts and could be a very good Division 3 player. https://twitter.com/DuckworthOwen/status/1445897828652384256?s=20 <strong>Chase Schmidt, San Juan Hills, 2022</strong> It wasn’t long ago that Schmidt was a sophomore for San Juan Hills making the game-winning interception against Loyola to win the CIF-SS Division 4 championship. He’s still a fantastic defensive player for the Stallions and did it all against El Toro. He had 12 tackles, a sack and an interception. What I like about Schmidt is how versatile he is as a defender. He can move up into the box if needed, can cover receivers in multiple coverages and be a ball-hawking safety. https://twitter.com/James_Escarcega/status/1201011569573777410?s=20 <strong>Zac Sheets, Nordhoff, 2022</strong> Sheets could make this list every single week. He leads the Southern Section in tackles and is putting up gaudy numbers every week. Part of that is because Nordhoff’s defense scheme is sort of designed to have him put up huge numbers, but a lot of it is because of how talented a defender he is. Sheets had 22 tackles and a forced fumble in an 18-10 win against Fillmore. He is one of the best players in Ventura County and I am surprised he doesn’t get more recruiting attention. https://twitter.com/vcspreps/status/1436514355223302144?s=20 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25274" first="Cam" last="Sidney"], Mater Dei, 2022</strong> Mater Dei was in need of a shutdown corner after the season-ending injury to [player_tooltip player_id="25223" first="Domani" last="Jackson"]. [player_tooltip player_id="25264" first="Josh" last="Hunter"] is a great defensive back but he has been playing in the slot more lately. Sidney has embraced his role as being the great corner on the outside and taking on the opposing team’s top receiver. He was great against St. John Bosco. The Braves took some deep shots in the second half in the endzone and Sidney made some deflections and closed to the ball quickly on underneath routes. It is easy to see why Cal liked him and I am excited to see him play Servite in the near future. https://twitter.com/MDFootball/status/1445219661767872512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1445219661767872512%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fprepredzone.com%2F2021%2F10%2Fmater-dei-vs-st-john-bosco-top-defensive-performers%2F <hr /> <em><strong>Other top performers:</strong></em> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Derron Atwood, Jr., Western</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">[player_tooltip player_id="204409" first="Jacob" last="Bower"], Santa Margarita</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">[player_tooltip player_id="145191" first="Deven" last="Bryant"], St. John Bosco</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Will Bush, Simi Valley</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Ethan Charpentier, Foothill</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Romen Christensen, Santa Margarita</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Casey Copeland, Foothill</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Mikey D’amato, Tesoro</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Angel Diaz, El Rancho</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Aden Eckenwiler, Servite</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">[player_tooltip player_id="141993" first="Lyrik" last="Fata"], Mater Dei</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">[player_tooltip player_id="141948" first="Malachi" last="Finau"], St. John Bosco</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Jake Fitzgerald, Cathedral</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">[player_tooltip player_id="168733" first="Brad" last="Gerken"], San Clemente</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Austin Grbic, Edison</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">[player_tooltip player_id="25253" first="Sione" last="Hala"], St. John Bosco</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Dylan Hampsten, Saugus</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Andrew Huezo, Village Christian</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">[player_tooltip player_id="186974" first="Blaze" last="Iglesias"], Orange</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">[player_tooltip player_id="141893" first="Jacob" last="Kongaika"], Mater Dei</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">[player_tooltip player_id="143131" first="Jacob" last="Manu"], Servite</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Roman Marchetti, Foothill</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Andrew McCarthy, Agoura</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Milo Orona, St. Francis</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">William Payne, Yorba Linda</span> [player_tooltip player_id="145165" first="Khalil" last="Peart"], Sierra Canyon Christian Pierce, Rancho Cucamonga <span style="font-weight: 400;">Wesley Port, San Juan Hills</span> [player_tooltip player_id="25230" first="Kamari" last="Ramsey"], Sierra Canyon <span style="font-weight: 400;">[player_tooltip player_id="25282" first="Malaki" last="Te’o"], Mater Dei</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Elijah Thompson, Lancaster</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Trey Tolmaire, Mission Viejo</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Brady Van Bennekum, Valencia</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Finley Weinheimer, Mission Viejo</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">[player_tooltip player_id="115432" first="Marcelles" last="Williams"], St. John Bosco</span>