WCAC Capital: Best defensive players from live evaluations

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The WCAC recently announced its All-Conference selections for the 2025 season. I had an opportunity to watch all the teams in the Capital Division play at least once in person. Based on that, I will pick one player at each position who I thought played the best overall when I saw them in game action.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><br>This article will feature the selections on defense. <em>(Note: These are the official WCAC All-Conference Selections, not Prep Redzone Maryland).</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>DEFENSIVE LINEMEN</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>First Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>James Pace | DeMatha</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1312935' first='Carter' last='Meadows'] | Gonzaga</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='402024' first='Tariq' last='Boney'] | St. John's</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='711671' first='David' last='Jackson'] | Good Counsel</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>True Wooten | Bishop McNamara</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Second Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1696302' first='Jordan' last='Stevens'] | DeMatha</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='402027' first='Tyson' last='Harley'] | Gonzaga</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sean St. Fleur | DeMatha</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1291840' first='Anthony' last='Sweeney'] | Good Counsel</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1313543' first='Donovan' last='Murphy'] | Bishop McNamara</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bryton Brown | Good Counsel</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>TOP PERFORMER DURING LIVE EVAL: James Pace (vs. St. Joe's Prep) </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":2067841,"sizeSlug":"full","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://prepredzone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/11/james-pace-2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-2067841" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">James Pace - DeMatha Catholic</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I've been very impressed with Pace ever since I first saw him in action last season against Gonzaga down in Washington D.C. This time, I saw him at the Mid-Atlantic Classic in Delaware against Pennsylvania high school football powerhouse St. Joe's Prep. Pace is the most disruptive edge defender I've seen in person over the last two season. Against St. Joe's Prep, he blocked a punt (that ended up as a touchdown), had several tackles, and made life absolutely miserable for St. Joe's Preps quarterback on several passing plays. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>HONORABLE MENTION: </strong>[player_tooltip player_id='402027' first='Tyson' last='Harley']/[player_tooltip player_id='1312935' first='Carter' last='Meadows'] - Gonzaga vs. Bishop McNamara</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>You'd be hard pressed to find an edge duo better than Harley and Meadows. Despite the loss to Bishop McNamara on the day I saw them play, there were very disruptive and were solid setting the edge. Both of them made it hard for Bishop McNamara to attack the edge in the running game and both made several tackles. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>LINEBACKERS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>First Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kai Jones | DeMatha</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Devan Lassiter | DeMatha</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Billy Matan | Gonzaga</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cayton Kubah-Taylor | Good Counsel</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1314009' first='Jianni' last='Davis'] | Bishop McNamara</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Second Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1084511' first='Ashton' last='Chiles'] | Good Counsel</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1129626' first='Ethan' last='Stanford'] | Bishop McNamara</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Will Day | Gonzaga</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='945033' first='Joel' last='Tillery'] | St. John's College</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Will Polk | St. John's College</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>TOP PERFORMER DURING LIVE EVAL: CAYTON KUBAH-TAYLOR - GOOD COUNSEL</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":2067842,"sizeSlug":"full","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://prepredzone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/11/cayton-kubah-taylor.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-2067842" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Cayton Kubah-Taylor - Good Counsel</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Good Counsel had a tough time against St. Joe's Prep when I saw them play but Kubah-Taylor was one of the brighter spots on defense. Good Counsel's most impactful defender, Taylor anchored the run defense and made multiple solo tackles in the hole, limiting Prep's backs to minimal gains. He also recovered the fumble on [player_tooltip player_id='711773' first='Dylan' last='Cleary']'s blocked punt in the first quarter, one of the Falcons' few momentum-shifting plays. Later, he stacked multiple stops in the second and third quarters, preventing Prep from breaking the game open earlier. His consistent presence gave Good Counsel's defense its backbone.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>HONARABLE MENTION</strong> - Kai Johnson - Dematha vs. St. Joe's Prep</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Johnson has been one of the more underrated linebacker prospects in the conference. Despite being on a team with a ton of Division I talent, Johnson's impact on the field has not gone unnoticed. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>DEFENSIVE BACKS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>First Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kynair Crumb | DeMatha</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='711773' first='Dylan' last='Cleary'] | Good Counsel</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>D'Kwan Thomas | Bishop McNamara</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='871399' first='Thomas' last='Berry'] | DeMatha</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1297790' first='Walker' last='Littleton'] | Gonzaga</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>SECOND TEAM</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1739873' first='Reid' last='Baker'] | Good Counsel</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Markel Long | Good Counsel</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='212257' first='Breyon' last='Williams'] | St. John's College</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1607565' first='Andrew' last='Hicks'] | Bishop McNamara</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mark Martin Jr. | DeMatha</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>TOP PERFORMERS DURING LIVE EVAL: [player_tooltip player_id='711773' first='Dylan' last='Cleary'] - GOOD COUNSEL</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":2067843,"sizeSlug":"full","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://prepredzone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/11/dylan-cleary-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-2067843" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='711773' first='Dylan' last='Cleary'] - Good Counsel</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The most impressive part about this selection is that Cleary didn't play the second-half against St. Joe's Prep after suffering concussion in the first half. Before then, Cleary blocked a punt and had two very 1v1 pass reps against star 2028 wide receiver Jett Harrison (two pass deflections). Unfortunately, he was hurt late in the first half of the game and did not return in the second half. Up until that point, he was more than solid in pass coverage. I came away impressed with his 1-on-1 cover skills. I</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->