2023 All State-Championship Defense

Mhakai Lenox-Brooks celebrating an incomplete pass

Alex Pallone November 30, 2023 @ 05:19 PM

The 2023 State Championships have come and gone. These games all proved to be incredibly close, and they provided us with several standout defensive performances. This article will feature what my dream team defense is from the State Championship teams!   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Defense</h2>   DL - [player_tooltip player_id='1036563' first='Reggie' last='Gardner'] - Southfield A&T   A phenomenal defensive tackle all season. Amazing getoff and power when he feels like it. Won several run blocks and rushed the passer a bit. Was especially dominant early in the game.   DL - [player_tooltip player_id='1290459' first='DeWayne' last='Williams III'] - De La Salle   Williams was a game-wrecker at his EDGE position in the first half. By the end of the game, he had a team-high 10 tackles, team-high 2.5TFLs, and team-high 1.5 sacks. I'm super impressed by Williams's high motor and athleticism.   DL - [player_tooltip player_id='253308' first='Chris' last='Jones'] - Muskegon   A super underrated part of this Muskegon defense. Chris, like a lot of DTs I watch, is great out of the gate, and when he has the energy to give it his all, he wrecks opposing O-Lines. To put up 5 tackles against a team that completely abandoned the run game is impressive.   DL - Orin Roskam - Forest Hills Central   Not someone who lit up the stat sheet, but I promise you he pressured the QB a ton during this game. Mason completely abandoned the run game pretty early on, and Orin was one of those guys who constantly got pressure.   LB - [player_tooltip player_id='187999' first='Jeremiah' last='Beasley'] - Belleville   Beasley had an average 5 tackles, but I promise you, his presence was felt much more than what the stat sheet indicated.   LB - [player_tooltip player_id='1290451' first='Ray-Mond' last='Smith'] - Belleville   Belleville just knows how to produce Linebackers. Hard-hitting, aggressive, and surprisingly athletic. Smith totaled a team-high 11 tackles with one 13-yard sack.   LB - [player_tooltip player_id='602239' first='Darekeo' last='Speech'] - Muskegon   Speech played what I thought was the best game of his career. I've seen him play numerous times, and he looked like a completely different player in the state championship. Speech was reactive, aggressive, and hit extremely hard. Legacy game for the Junior linebacker.   LB - [player_tooltip player_id='253230' first='JT' last='Hartman'] - Forest Hills Central   I've said it more than a few times at this point, but JT was the most impressive player on the FHC defense, and it was completely unexpected. He's an all-state running back but showed the world that he's much more than just an RB. JT racked up 8 tackles, 2TFLs, 1 Sack, and 1 INT.   DB - [player_tooltip player_id='1290446' first='Mhakai' last='Lenox-Brooks'] - Muskegon   An unknown name to me until last weekend, Mhakai was in on several pass defensive plays for Muskegon. He only totaled 2 tackles, but that's because he didn't give up many catches. He also had 1 pass breakup. Overall great day for the entire Muskegon secondary.   DB - Adrian Walker Jr - Belleville   Aside from his viral interception, Adrian had a great day with pass defense all game.   DB - [player_tooltip player_id='188000' first='Wendell' last='Smith'] - Southfield A&T   Wendell is amongst the most fundamentally sound and fluid DBs I've watched. He had 1 pass breakup and 2 tackles.   DB - [player_tooltip player_id='251945' first='Ty' last='Hudkins'] - Forest Hills Central   It's well documented that Hudkins played out of his mind last weekend. His big highlight is on offense, but he also made a phenomenal interception in this game and was in on 3 tackles.

The 2023 State Championships have come and gone. These games all proved to be incredibly close, and they provided us with several standout defensive performances. This article will feature what my dream team defense is from the State Championship teams!