Page at Independence - Defensive Standouts

<p>The Independence Patriots flexed their playoff experience and high-level execution on both offense and defense, with an impressive 45-6 Round 2 victory over Greensboro Page. The Patriots showed that while the Pirates are better this year, they still have some steps to go as a program to get to a contending level.</p>   <p>There were some defensive standouts on both teams here in this one, let's take a look at them here.</p>    <p class="text-gray-700">Ricky had a strong game on both sides of the ball for the Patriots. Ricky had a nice catch on a seam pass for a touchdown in a dominant first half. Defensively, the Patriots allowed less than 50 yards passing while the starters were in the game through three and a half quarters. Ricky was all over the field though, recording a pass breakup and a tackle for loss on a play where the Patriots front 7 flushed the quarterback on a long scramble play. I spoke with Ricky 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/1989532100614099157?t=AoknfcWEfNRkV0zOrULXzA&s=19 </div></figure>     <p class="text-gray-700">Nick didn't get a ton of action his way in the secondary in this one, so he found another way to impact the game that you may not expect: Special Teams. It is special when you have your Norte Dame commit flying down the field on punt return coverage. Nick was really impressive on multiple punt team coverage plays, making immediate tackles on at least two occasions and setting up the defense for success. There will be a time - such as this week against the pass-oriented Richmond Raiders - where Nick will have a chance to shine at his safety spot in a big way. </p>     <p class="text-gray-700">Zaire plays both defensive line and linebacker for the Patriots, so we decided to call him a Defensive Specialist during his interview, and I really think that fits him well. Zaire did an excellent job of getting penetration in the backfield on multiple occasions in both the running game and passing game. Zaire finished with 4 Tackles and 2 sacks for the game. I spoke with Zaire after the contest. </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/1989533082588758073?t=dnUUo9WThBlQTFLW5tfCzg&s=19 </div></figure>     <p class="text-gray-700">I was impressed once again with Elyejah's performance - earlier this season, I highlighted him after a strong victory the Patriots had over Mallard Creek, and he did a great job off the edge in this one as well. Multiple times Elyejah provided pressure and flushed the Page quarterback into hurried passes and set up his teammates for sacks or tackles at the line of scrimmage. He will be a good candidate to be included in our next rankings update, but as it stands, that pressure will be essential next week against a pass-happy Richnond County attack. </p>     <p class="text-gray-700">i did not know much about Kerry coming into this game, but he had a major impact in a number of ways for the Patriots defense. For the game, Kerry finished with 5 tackles, a sack, and an interception. The sack came off of pressure forced by the Patriots defensive line, and Kerry made a nice play in the open field to get the quarterback on the ground. On the interception, Kerry did a nice job of playing center field on a deep shot in zone coverage and went up and high pointed the football well. He's a player I will keep my eye on going forward through the offseason as a 2027 prospect. </p>     <p class="text-gray-700">Obviously with the game result, Page didn't have a lot of bright spots on either side of the ball. But Justin I thought played well from his edge position. He got pressure a few times in the passing game, and did record a sack with a nice outside pass rush against one of the Patriots better offensive linemen. Page is a young team, but this senior has been an important part of their defense the last couple of years. He's a player I would love to see up close in a camp setting to see if he can play in space as an off ball linebacker at his size - that could enhance his recruiting opportunities in the off-season as a 2026 prospect. </p>     <p class="text-gray-700">Jon was a good steadying presence in this game in the Patriots' secondary. Page never found any kind of rhythm offensively, especially in the passing game, and a lot of that is testament to what the secondary did in pass coverage. Page wanted to be aggressive offensively, but the combination of great coverage and a strong pass rush, completely shut down the Pirates attack. Jon ended up with a couple of nice pass breakups from a statistical point of view for the game. I spoke with Jon after the contest. </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/1989532550625157576?t=aDvjiezqU4yRpHY4gEyWjw&s=19 </div></figure>

The Independence Patriots flexed their playoff experience and high-level execution on both offense and defense, with an impressive 45-6 Round 2 victory over Greensboro Page. The Patriots showed that while the Pirates are better this year, they still have some steps to go as a program to get to a contending level.