SD Top Defensive Players of Week 5

[player_tooltip player_id='395538' first='Dalton' last='Reiff'] - DT, Chester Area   Reiff was making himself known to the offense and the offense sure knew he was there all throughout the night and was excellent when doing it. He was stuffing the run the entire game and was a brick wall up the middle with not allowing anyone to get past him and making running-backs think twice when they see him up the middle. That is what was happening the entire game where he was making big plays and big tackles along with getting stops at an excellent rate for his defense. His stats that he put up were nothing that you should scoff at and he racked up 9.5 tackles mainly stuffing players up the middle and had a tackle for a loss to boot with this. He was mainly focused on stopping any running game that was trying to form and he did that job well. It was great to see what he was going all game long with how it seemed like it was light work for the DT and how elite his ability to stifle the offense was last week. Along with 2 QB pressures, he put up a great game making him a defensive star of South Dakota that needs some attention.   [player_tooltip player_id='294166' first='Kade' last='Van Egdom'] - LB, Sioux Falls Christian   Van Egdom has shown time and time again why he is one of my favorite prospects in the state and needs some more attention for what he does game and game out when he is on the field every week. Outside of the performance that Van Egdom put on, what he has outside of that is a great attitude and a willingness to work and get better, showing that with little to no ego while doing that. This makes the performance that he put out on the Gridiron even more impressive, and what he did was be a defensive beast at the linebacker position. 21 total tackles are something that is just crazy when you see that on the stat sheet and he did it in such a great way, he was a key piece for his team's defense and did anything his coach needed him to with no complaints from him. He mainly worked this game on coverage packages that saw him locking down anyone that came his way. He added on two TFLs and two PD, all of this mixed with his attitude and willingness to play where he needs to. Make sure you watch this kid's film for the rest of the year, I know I have been and it has not been disappointing. With all of this in mind, it is fair for me to say that this week's South Dakota Defensive Player of the Week belongs to Van Egdom, well deserved for the show that he put on.   Tate VanHorssen - DE, Sioux Falls Chritisan   It should be no surprise to see another Sioux Falls Christian player on this list for how great they played last week and another big standout for what he did on the defensive side of the ball. What VanHorssen did was be in the exact role that he needed to fit in with, and that made the quarterback's life not fun at all. He was in the backfield nearly all game and you would think he was a running back how much he was back there. He worked with his other defensive players on his team and showed why you should not feel safe when you see VanHorssen coming off the edge. While on the stat sheet it just shows that he racked a total of 3 sacks, there was so much more for what he did with for his team. He made the offense adjust and make him one of the main focuses to stop off the edge and allowed others to step up and have big games on their own. VanHorssen could care little for his stats at the end of the game, as long as he can help his team secure the win, he will be the player celebrating the hardest at the end of the game.   [player_tooltip player_id='89287' first='Jaxton' last='Eck'] - LB/DE, Brookings   It seems like every week I see a new Eck stat line that makes me go wow, this kid is living a swiss army knife when he is on the field. He adapts, overcomes, and makes his style play relevant no matter the set or situation that they are on, someone who coaches would love to have in their box making plays for them. Eck is not only great on the defensive side of the ball but also great when it comes to what he does on ST, and what he did this week was block two punts for his team one of which resulted in a safety. When in the traditional defensive sense, what he did was total 8 tackles throughout the game and also added on a total of 3 TFLs. Add on a sack and you just have another day at the offense when it comes to Eck and what he has in his bag, and it is a joy to see what he does every week with all of the skills that he has. He truly is a player that can do so much and it is great to see as someone who loves defensive players who simply grind out games, which is what you get game in and out with Eck.

Dalton Reiff - DT, Chester Area