West Texas: Top Defenders To Watch In The Panhandle In 2024

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2023 West Texas high school football season ended less than a month ago. But we're already looking forward to the 2024 campaign. Here are 10 Defensive Players to Watch in 2024:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Zymahni Aokuso, Amarillo</strong>: In his first season as a full-time starter for the Sandies, Aokuso collected 76 tackles, 7.0 TFL and 2 forced fumbles as a junior. The Sandies finished 6-6 in 2023 and reached the second round of the Class 5A, D1 playoffs. Aokuso and Amarillo look to take the next step in 2024. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Bryce Braden, Stratford</strong>: Braden is a 6-foot-3, 230-pound tackling machine for the Elks, who advanced all to the way to the Class 2A, D1 semifinals. Braden the led the way with a staggering 184 tackles, 20.0 TFL, 19 QB Hurries and 11 sacks. Oh yeah, he also threw for 1,968 yards, rushed for 1,398 yards and accounted for 48 TD on offense. Little wonder he was named Region Player of the Year by Press Pass Sports. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Wyatt Davis, Canadian</strong>: The Wildcats didn't just have a highly prolific offense on the way to the semifinals of the Class 3A, D2 playoffs. Davis led a fast, aggressive defense with 153 tackles, 22.0 TFL and 9 QB hurries. Davis returns in 2024 along with several other key contributors.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Tryston Hernandez, West Plains</strong>: Most of West Plains' leaders on defense were seniors in 2023, a key reason the Wolves advanced to the fourth round (Regional Finals) of the Class 4A, D2 playoffs. Hernandez was the top non-senior on West Plains' defense with 79 tackles and 15.0 TFL. He'll definitely be counted on to become one of the leader son defense in 2024. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Carter Hickey, Canyon</strong>: Hickey was one of the top defensive players for Canyon from his LB spot, posting well over 50 tackles. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Britten Joyce, Pampa</strong>: Joyce is a fearless cornerback for the Harvesters. He had 110 tackles as a junior in 2023 to finish as one of the top 50 2025 tacklers in West Texas. Both Joyce and Pampa hope for bigger things in the fall.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Aiden Osage, Amarillo Randall</strong>: The Raiders reached the second round of the Class 4A, D1 playoffs behind a strong defense led in part by Osage, who had 73 tackles and 3 QB hurries from his MLB spot. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1126196' first='TJ' last='Tillman'], Tascosa</strong>: Tillman is one of the most intriguing players in the 2025 class in the Panhandle. An outstanding athlete, Tillman was a First-Team All-District WR and an all-district DB. He verbally committed recently to Texas Tech, so he has Power 5 football in his future.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jakaylin Terry, Amarillo Palo Duro</strong>: Terry had 73 tackles a junior for the Dons, which lost in the first round of the Class 5A, D2 playoffs. Terry and Palo Duro are working towards an improved 2024 season. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Hunter Trusler, Dalhart</strong>: Trusler, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound free safety, showed as a sophomore in 2023 that he possesses the potential to become one of the top defensive players in West Texas. He finished with 98 tackles and 2 interceptions as Dalhart reached the 2^nd round of the Class 3A, D1 playoffs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Noah Zamora, Hereford</strong>: Zamora had over 60 tackles for the Whitefaces, which reached the Class 4A, D1 playoffs after a 5-0 start. Both Zamora and Hereford look to go farther in 2024 by finishing stronger.  </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/BryceBraden3/status/1742679837498552457?s=20","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/BryceBraden3/status/1742679837498552457?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/texasmadeT4/status/1728517392802926976?s=20","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/texasmadeT4/status/1728517392802926976?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:107%"></span></p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->