Prep Redzone Illinois: 7A All State Defensive Edition

The season is over and we're back at it with the All-State Awards for 8A-1A to highlight these student-athletes accomplishments this season. It was a grueling 9 Week Regular Season and one heck of a road to IHSA State for those that made the playoffs. After reviewing the film of over 700 athletes in the class of 7A, we're diving into the 7A All-State Defensive Edition. Without further ado, let's dive into it. <hr /> 1st Team DL [player_tooltip player_id="133959" first="Andrew" last="Laurich"] 6'5 250 23' Yorkville <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewLaurich">Twitter </a> Mr. Laurich has an aggressive playstyle which uses to get pressure on the quarterback by using his hands at the point of attack, as he does so he slaps hands down and turns the corner on the offensive tackle. In run support, this young man disengages blocks to make the tackle at the line of scrimmage and crashes down plugging up gaps. In his tool box, he uses a swim move to get past the offensive lineman quickly to distrupt plays in the backfield quickly by getting penetration. If he isn't able to get to the quarterback in his pass rush, he'll put his hands up to either deflect the pass or (in one instance) come away with an interception. DL Roderick Pierce 6'3 280 23' Brother Rice <a href="https://twitter.com/trey2023_">Twitter</a> Mr. Pierce does a good job of shooting gaps in run support after he fires off the ball, this ensures he gets in the backfield quickly to disrupt plays. He disengages blocks to make the tackle at the line of scrimmage and can get pressure on the quarterback. This all happens with his quick first step and use of hands at the point of attack. Once he takes his first step he utilizes his power in form of his bull rush to collapse the pocket up the middle forcing the opposing quarterback to escape and work out of platform. This young man holds gap control well, takes backside pursuit flat down the line of scrimmage, and penetrates the backfield to impact plays on a consistent basis. DL [player_tooltip player_id="155317" first="Tyler" last="Sapit"] 6'4 220 22' Batavia <a href="https://twitter.com/tsapit55">Twitter</a> Mr. Sapit fires off the ball and has a quick first step when doing so, when he does he can blow up plays in the backfield by getting penetration. This happens by using his hands at the point of attack and shooting gaps in run support. That's not all this young man can do, he holds gap responsibility at the snap before triggering to attack the ball carrier, takes backside pursuit flat down the line of scrimmage, and disengages blocks to make the tackle. In his pass rush, he gets pressure on the quarterback by batting the offensive lineman's hands down and flushing the quarterback out of the pocket. If he can't get to the quarterback, he gets his hands up resulting in passes being deflected. DL Ben Sahakian 6'4 205 22' Prospect <a href="https://twitter.com/bensahakian29">Twitter</a> Mr. Sahakian blows up the offensive lineman in his pass rush to get pressure on the quarterback and flush him out of the pocket to work out of platform. This happens with his use of hands at the point of attack and with him firing off the ball with his quick first step. As he fires off the ball and uses his hands, he slaps the offensive lineman's hands down closing the distance before turning the corner. In his tool box, he can use a speed rush to win by turning the corner and can use a bull rush to drive the offensive lineman back into the quarterback's pocket resulting in pressure as well as sacks. If he doesn't get to the quarterback he gets his hands up resulting in pass deflections. In run support, he can shoot gaps resulting in tackle for losses and can meet the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage resulting in no gain on the play. LB Matt Kingsbury 6'3 225 23' St. Rita <a href="https://twitter.com/MattKingsbury3">Twitter </a> Mr. Kingsbury triggers downhill quickly in close space and is explosive with his first step as he attacks. He brings bad intentions in the run game seeing red and quickly transitioning downhill. This happens by utilizing his nice eye discipline to read and react to the play quickly as he rarely seems to be in the wrong position. When working in space, he rarely misses tackles and comes to balance appropriately to secure the tackle. As he works laterally, he's rangy possessing good speed/explosiveness as he has a good tackle radius to make plays outside his frame. This young man also blows up the running back during his pass rush resulting in getting pressure on the quarterback and has a high motor to finish plays as well as fly to the ball. LB [player_tooltip player_id="65871" first="Tyler" last="Jansey"] 6'1 220 23' Batavia <a href="https://twitter.com/TylerJansey">Twitter</a> Mr. Jansey gets pressure on the quarterback with his quick first step and ability to slip blocks on blitzes. When he does so, he flushes the opposing quarterback out of the pocket as well as slapping the quarterback's throwing hand forcing the ball to come out upon impact forcing a fumble on the play. In run support, he triggers downhill quickly in close space filling holes in run support. When doing so, he can disengage blocks to make the tackle and meet the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage for no gain on the play. When attacking, he gets in the backfield quickly to disrupt plays by getting penetration and has the closing speed when working laterally to limit the ball carrier to turn the corner. LB Zach Choromokos 6'1 220 23' Wheaton Warrenville South <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachChoromokos">Twitter</a> Mr. Chromokos works gap to gap in run support, he slow plays the ball as he waits for the ball carrier to commit to a running lane. Once the ball carrier commits he closes quickly in close space to meet the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage. He disengages blocks to make the tackle on the play and uses his lateral quickness to work horizontally limiting the ball carrier's chance of turning the corner. This young man gets pressure on the quarterback off the edge by slapping the offensive tackle's hands down and turning the corner. He also doesn't give up on plays by taking pursuit angles to make tackles downfield. DB [player_tooltip player_id="20930" first="Saveon" last="Brown"] 6'1 200 22' Thornwood <a href="https://twitter.com/SaeNext">Twitter</a> Mr. Brown can jump route for an interception when in zone coverage and returns it for a touchdown. He attacks the ball at the highest point when going up for 50/50 balls coming away with interceptions and resulting in pass breakups. This young man is fluid with his transitions to turn and run with the defender downfield when in coverage and limits the chances of him being broken off at the top of the route. In run support, he plays the alley well where he triggers downhill quickly to make the open field tackle and isn't afraid to deliver a hard hit on the ball carrier. DB [player_tooltip player_id="199424" first="Mason" last="Pawelko"] 6'3 190 22' Geneva <a href="https://twitter.com/MasonPawelko">Twitter</a> Mr. Pawelko covers ground quickly when in zone coverage forcing pass breakups by getting his hand in the receiver's basket. He diagnoses plays quickly and turns to run as he covers sideline to sideline quickly when in his deep third/deep half responsibility to make a play on the ball. This all happens with his fluid and smooth transitions. If he see's the quarterback hitting his checkdown in the flat, this young man triggers downhill quickly to secure the tackle and finish the play. When going up for 50/50 balls, he attacks the ball at the highest point to come away with the interception and he stays on the receiver's hip pocket when in coverage giving him good position to force pass breakups. Also used in the return game where he can set his team up in good starting field position. DB [player_tooltip player_id="119207" first="Khary" last="Shaw"] 6'2 202 22' Brother Rice <a href="https://twitter.com/KharyShaw">Twitter </a> Mr. Shaw can work at corner or out of the "nickle" back when in coverage as well as the single high safety showcasing his versatility. When in zone coverage, he read/reacts quickly to undercut the route for an interception across the field with his smooth and fluid transitions. He can close quickly, especially when playing the alley as he triggers downhill to make the open field tackle by wrapping up well as he flows to the ball. This young man attacks the ball in the air and delivers a hard hit on the receiver forcing pass breakups as he's not afraid to lower his shoulder. DB [player_tooltip player_id="155500" first="J.T." last="Harris"] 5'9 175 22' Mt. Carmel <a href="https://twitter.com/JtHarris21">Twitter </a> Mr. Harris gets hands on when pressing, he reacts to breaks on routes quickly as he's very smooth and flows through transitions with ease. This results in him making a play on the ball coming away with pass breakups and interceptions. This young man can close in a hurry, especially when being a single high safety. He can disengage blocks to make the tackle, shows good instincts to stay with the receiver coming into his zone, and makes open field tackles. 2nd Team DL Tristen Anderson 6'4 220 22' Buffalo Grove <a href="https://twitter.com/ttandersonn">Twitter </a> Mr. Anderson uses his hands at the point of attack, this results in him getting pressure on the quarterback and shooting gaps in run support to disrupt plays in the backfield. He does so by utilizing his quick first step to close space on the offensive lineman before turning the corner, he can also knock the offensive lineman down with his bull rush as he brings a powerful first punch to the table to collapse the pocket and bring pressure on the quarterback. In run support, he holds gap control putting him in position to meet the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage and takes backside pursuit straight down the line of scrimmage. DL [player_tooltip player_id="145473" first="Andrew" last="Zook"] 6'4 235 23' Yorkville <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewZook34">Twitter</a> Mr. Zook works gap to gap and uses his hands at the point of attack, this results in him making plays in both the run defense and pass defense. In run support, he can shoot gaps resulting in tackle for losses by slipping blocks getting penetration on the play and can disengage blocks to make the tackle at/near the line of scrimmage. During his pass rush, he uses his power to drive the offensive lineman back into the quarterback pocket flushing him out and having him work out of platform. When he uses his hands, he bats the offensive lineman's hands down as he closes space before turning the corner. DL Samuel Pinsel 6'1 205 22' Libertyville <a href="https://twitter.com/sam_pinsel">Twitter</a> Mr. Pinsel uses his power to drive the offensive tackle back into the quarterback's pocket with his bull rush, he also uses a speed rush to turn the corner resulting in getting pressure on the quarterback. When doing so, he uses his hands at the point of attack to bat the offensive lineman's hands down as he closes space and turns the corner. His quick first step coincides with this as it hurts offensive linemen that can't get out of their stance quickly and in position to strike. When in his pass rush, he does a good job disrupting plays by slipping blocks and flushing the quarterback out of the pocket to work out of platform. LB Jack Sadowsky 6'3 220 23' Batavia <a href="https://twitter.com/JackSadowsky">Twitter</a> Mr. Sadowsky has a quick first step which he uses to trigger downhill quickly in close space. Upon doing so, he shoots gap and slips blocks to get in the backfield quickly generating penetration to disrupt plays. He disengages blocks to make the tackle where he can meet the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage resulting in little to no gain on the play. This young man uses his closing speed and lateral quickness to work horizontally limiting the chance of the ball carrier turning the corner. He gets pressure on the quarterback off blitzes, makes chasedown tackles downfield, and delivers heavy hits forcing pass breakups. LB [player_tooltip player_id="135840" first="Ross" last="Dansdill"] 6'3 220 23' Wheaton North <a href="https://twitter.com/rdansdill10">Twitter</a> Mr. Dansdill triggers downhill quickly in close space and disengages blocks to make the tackle on the play. He does a good job of working gap to gap as he patiently waits for the ball carrier to commit to a gap before he attacks. On passing downs, he gets pressure on the quarterback when coming off a blitz. When he does so, he uses his hands at the point of attack to bat down the offensive lineman's hands and pairs that with a swim move to gain inside leverage to collapse the pocket. This young man uses his lateral quickness to extend plays horizontally allowing his teammates to rally to the ball and limits the chances of the ball carrier turning the corner. His aggressive playstyle and his ability to rally to the ball quickly to get his nose in there on every play catch your eye. LB [player_tooltip player_id="155363" first="Rolando" last="Sepulveda"] 5'11 190 22' Brother Rice <a href="https://twitter.com/rolando_1534">Twitter</a> Mr. Sepulveda has power to him as he delivers heavy hits in both run support and in pass coverage. He uses his lateral movement to limit the ability of scrambling quarterbacks to turn the corner as he triggers quickly. In close space, this young man triggers downhill quickly as he works gap to gap. In ozone coverage, he reacts quickly to underneath routes and pursues making the open field tackle in the flat. When he's set on a quarterback spy, he attacks once the quarterback breaks the pocket to work out of platform resulting in this young man getting pressure on the play. LB [player_tooltip player_id="118827" first="George" last="Litgen"] 6'2 197 St. Charles North <a href="https://twitter.com/G_Litgen4">Twitter </a> Mr. Litgen disengages blocks to make the tackle while he works gap to gap, as he does so he puts himself in a good position to meet the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage. He uses his lateral quickness to limit the ball carrier's ability to turn the corner and can slip blocks to disrupt plays by penetrating the backfield. When in zone coverage, he triggers downhill quickly to make tackles in the flat where he wraps up and gets his hands up when coming off the edge to deflect passes. This young man also takes backside pursuit to get pressure on the quarterback by flushing him out of the pocket and forcing him to work out of platform. DB [player_tooltip player_id="155543" first="Dominick" last="Marrazzo"] 6'0 165 22' Buffalo Grove <a href="https://twitter.com/DominickMarraz3">Twitter</a> Mr. Marrazzo diagnoses plays quickly, pair this with his break on the ball and he's in a position to make a play. This young man can undercut routes in his zone to come away with an interception, attacks the ball at the highest point to come away with an interception, and can peel off his zone to make open field tackles in the flat. Once he diagnoses the play, he covers sideline to sideline going up for 50/50 ball to contest the ball resulting in pass breakups. When covering deep shots downfield, he stays on the receiver's hip pocket and tracks the ball well. He's also used in the return game where he weaves in and out of defenders to return the kick for a touchdown. DB [player_tooltip player_id="134831" first="Derek" last="Whaley"] 6'1 200 22' Mt. Carmel <a href="https://twitter.com/DerekWha1ey">Twitter</a> Mr. Whaley can cover the slot receiver being a "nickel" corner at times as well as being at his normal position. When doing so, he gets hands on when re-routing the receiver disturbing the timing of the route with the quarterback and can undercut routes for interceptions in coverage by taking a good break on the ball. He diagnoses plays quickly as there are countless plays where he peels off his zone to make the open field tackle in the flat on underneath routes. This young man plays the alley well using his natural movement as he can close in a hurry and can disengage blocks to make the tackle. DB [player_tooltip player_id="155513" first="Brayden" last="Hall"] 5'10 165 22' St. Rita <a href="https://twitter.com/Upnextbjay">Twitter </a> Mr. Hall gets hands on when pressing and works in coverages of zone as well as man to man. In man coverage, he gets his hand in the receiver's basket resulting in pass breakups and in zone coverage he disengages his zone triggering to the flat to deliver a hit forcing pass breakups. Once this young man diagnoses the play he triggers downhill quickly with his break on the ball putting him in positions to make a play. When he's in coverage downfield, he goes up for 50/50 balls and attacks the ball at the highest point to contest the ball resulting in pass breakups. DB [player_tooltip player_id="157626" first="RaSand" last="Hall"] 6'0 190 22' Shepard <a href="https://twitter.com/Rasand4">Twitter</a> Mr. Hall undercuts route for interceptions in zone coverage when in the flat as well as in hook/curl. He has quick reaction time to come away with an interception off a tipped pass and doesn't give up on plays by taking pursuit angles to make the tackle downfield. Once he diagnoses the play as a run, he triggers downhill quickly to make the open field tackle by wrapping up and finishing the play. He has stays on the receiver's hip pocket when in coverage while using his fluid flip of the hips to turn and run when covering deep shots downfield. Honorable Mention DL [player_tooltip player_id="120386" first="Eli" last="Shereshovech"] 6'4 240 22' Buffalo Grove <a href="https://twitter.com/ShereshovechEli">Twitter </a> DL Giuseppe Ursetta 5'11 235 22' St. Rita <a href="https://twitter.com/giuseurs">Twitter </a> DL [player_tooltip player_id="20911" first="Kevin" last="Frazier"] 22' Brother Rice <a href="https://twitter.com/KevFrazier04">Twitter</a> LB Henry Ivers 6'1 200 23' Brother Rice <a href="https://twitter.com/henry_ivers">Twitter </a> LB [player_tooltip player_id="139445" first="Drew" last="Bartels"] 6'3 205 22' Batavia <a href="https://twitter.com/drew_bartels">Twitter </a> LB [player_tooltip player_id="165473" first="Charlie" last="Fardon"] 5'11 200 Mt. Carmel <a href="https://twitter.com/CharlesFordon">Twitter</a> DB [player_tooltip player_id="154037" first="Camden" last="Maas"] 6'3 190 22' Normal Community <a href="https://twitter.com/CamdenMaas">Twitter </a> DB Cranston Wall 5'11 175 22' Moline <a href="https://twitter.com/CranstonW">Twitter</a> DB Johnny Schmitt 6'1 180 23' St. Rita <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnnySchmitt_7">Twitter </a> DB Anas Everette 6'0 170 23' Reavis <a href="https://twitter.com/everette_anas">Twitter</a> <hr /> Be sure to follow <a href="https://twitter.com/PRZJordan">@PRZJordan</a> regarding news & information for Illinois High School Football as well as <a href="https://twitter.com/prepredzoneIL">@PrepRedzoneIL</a>. Want to be ranked? Fill out our FREE <a href="https://prepredzone.com/prospect-index/">Prospect Player Index</a>, another tool to help you in your recruiting journey.