Harding at East Mecklenburg: Defensive Standouts

<p>The Harding Rams defeated the East Mecklenburg Eagles 22-6 this past Friday Night in a non-conference matchup of two schools in the city of Charlotte. There were several defensive standouts from the game. Let's take a look at them here.</p>    <p class="text-gray-700">Jaquavion played on both sides of the ball for the Rams last night, but his biggest impacts came on defense, where he played a bit of a linebacker/safety hybrid role. I thought Jaquvion did a good job in outside run support and provided solid coverage in the passing game, forcing the East Meck offense into three interceptions on the night. Jaquavion also had a nice catch and run off of an RPO play, but with the Rams dominating in the run game, it was his only reception of the night. </p>     <p class="text-gray-700">Trenton was Harding's defensive player of the game, totaling over ten tackles and two tackles for loss. Harding Head Coach Terence Cunningham specifically called out Trenton for being one of the few bright spots in the first half, and said they needed to get him help in the second half if they were going to come back and win the game. Trenton was very fast to the football and did a good job of tackling in space in general. I spoke with Trenton after the game. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/pepman704/status/1961637819681755565 </div></figure>     <p class="text-gray-700">Daniel played on both sides of the ball, but I thought defensively, he played very well. Daniel tipped a pass in the first half, leading directly to an interception. Daniel got in the passing lane and reacted well to what he saw on the play. In the second half, Daniel did a good job of pattern reading and made a nice catch for an interception, which set up Harding's second touchdown with a short field. With his size and athletic ability, Daniel is going to be a player to watch going forward. </p>     <p class="text-gray-700">A long and athletic corner, Zoean had a big interception near the end of the first half that kept East Meck from getting into the red zone and potentially scoring another touchdown. Zoean showed good discipline in zone coverage and made a nice catch on an errant throw. I thought Zoean also came up in run support well when those opportunities came his way. Another player to watch with a strong physical & athletic profile. </p>     <p class="text-gray-700">Particularly when East Mecklenburg played well in the first half, Max was very active in his linebacker position, playing off blocks with good hand usage and athleticism, and getting to the football to make tackles. In the second half, he didn't have much help as Harding's offensive line did a good job with combo blocks getting to the 2nd level in the running game; however, as long as he's allowed to run free, Max can be a tackling machine for the Eagles. </p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/LylmfwwlcVg?si=FRR6LJQyRRLKbELr </div></figure>

The Harding Rams defeated the East Mecklenburg Eagles 22-6 this past Friday Night in a non-conference matchup of two schools in the city of Charlotte. There were several defensive standouts from the game. Let's take a look at them here.