Leesville Road vs. Cardinal Gibbons – Defensive Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I was on the sidelines for the Week 8 matchup between Leesville Road and Cardinal Gibbons. The winner of the game between two ranked teams would the frontrunner to win the conference. The listed players performances caught my attention throughout the game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Leesville Road</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='263960' first='Braxton' last='Lassiter'] - DE, 6'4" 285 (No. 3 DL, No. 34 Overall)</strong>. Braxton displayed good technique and good use of hands to control blockers while moving past for stops. He was quick out of his stance quickly moving past blockers into the backfield to disrupt plays. Braxton was the most dominant player on the defensive line. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='387408' first='Elijah' last='Mickle'] - NG, 6'1" 270</strong>. Elijah displayed good technique and use of hands to control blockers while moving past for stops. He used his upper body strength and quickness to shut down the inside running plays.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='387415' first='Jacob' last='Lail'] - OLB, 5'10" 180 (No. 43 LB, No. 315 Overall)</strong>. Jacob displayed good quickness and lateral movement while closing in on the ball carrier for stops. He displayed good speed to cover a lot of ground quickly while closing in on the ball carrier. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='339180' first='Xavier' last='Lewis'] - MLB, 6'1" 235 (No. 10 DL, Watchlist)</strong>. Xavier displayed good technique and lateral movement while closing in on the ball carrier for stops. He used his quickness and upper body strength to quickly move past blockers into the backfield to disrupt plays.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Leesville Road defensive line was stout against the run and limited Cardinal Gibbons from being able to gain positive yards throughout the game. The defensive unit was unable to contain Cardinal Gibbons passing attack throughout the game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cardinal Gibbons</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='144696' first='Blake' last='Raphael'] - FS, 6'0" 205 (No. 5 ATH, No. 59 Overall)</strong>. Blake displayed the ability to change directions quickly along with good technique to cover receivers. He displayed speed and coverage skills to make it difficult to complete a pass against him. He was technique-sound on solo tackles made in the open field. Blake finished the game with 7 tackles and a .5 tackle for a loss.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='308730' first='Ryan' last='Ziegler'] - LB, 6'1" 225 (No. 9 LB, No. 79 Overall)</strong>. Ryan displayed patience to let the play develop before quickly reacting to stop the play. He displayed the ability to change direction quickly to close in on the ball carrier. Ryan finished the game with 5 tackles and a .5 tackle for a loss. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='355048' first='Ugonna' last='Ezuma'] - DT, 6'1" 235 (No. 37 DL, No. 322 Overall)</strong>. Ugonna displayed good technique and good use of hands to control blockers while moving past to make stops. He moves well in tight spaces to close in on the ball carrier for stops. Ugonna finished the game with 5 tackles and a .5 tackle for a loss.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cardinal Gibbons defensive unit dominated Leesville Road offensive unit throughout the game. Leesville Road offensive unit was limited in generating offense with either passing or running plays. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->