6A Defensive Players of the Year

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There was a lot of good football being played in 6A this year. Defense win championships, and we all love to see a good defensive game. This list could have a long list of names, but we can't always give out participation trophies. We took the time to truly look in and see who made a big impact this year on defense. It wasn't easy, but we had to make some hard choices.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='107045' first='John' last='Slaughter'], DB, Southaven, 2023, 6A North</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Slaughter is the definition of a baller on defense. He is a guy that you want in your secondary making plays. Slaughter was all over the field making plays on defense this season. With him being committed to Tennessee he will be leaving school early. He is going to be enrolling soon, and starting off his new journey. Slaughter has a lot of skills that helped him become the defensive player of the year. He is a long kid that has long arms to defend passes. Slaughter also knows how to come up, and make good tackles. He has multiple offers, but Tennessee just happens to be the school that impresses him the most. Slaughter will do a lot of great things in Knoxville.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2><strong>PJ Woodland, Oak Grove, DB, 2024, 6A South</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Woodland is a guy that can hurt you every time he catches an interception on defense. You do not want the ball lingering around in the air near his area. He knows how to make plays on defense, and that's all he did this year. When you watch his film you can see how great of a defender he is. He was a pick six machine this season. That's what caught my attention earlier in the season. He holds offers to Miss State and Southern Miss. You can expect a lot more to come this off-season when he starts to put some work in. Woodland can be very dominant, and he knows how to cover. He has those good hips that help him break very well on plays. He can line up and play any position within the secondary.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2><strong>Honorable Mentions</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eric Thomas, Jr from Starkville had 16 sacks this season. There is no way you can mention the top defenders around the state, and not mention him. He is a workhorse for his team, and the Yellowjackets will miss him dearly next year. Thomas was making plays all season. Before the state title game he only had 12 sacks. Yes, he did record four sacks during their state title victory. He is a man amongst boys. I can't wait to see where he decides to attend college.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='340817' first='Jaylen' last='Aborom'] is another Oak Grove player that had a great year. He is committed to Mississippi State, and the Bulldog fans are happy to have him come aboard. Aborom is a twitchy guy that knows how to move in the secondary. You definitely can expect to see great things from this kid on the college level. He is an absolute stud. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->