Lakeville South vs. Anoka: Defensive standouts

Brian Jerzak

November 8, 2021 @ 09:52 PM

The Lakeville South defense has been an under-rated unit all season. The Cougars’ offense gets most of the headlines, but the defense has been almost as good all season. That was the case Friday night. Yeah, the offense was on point – scoring nearly every time they had the ball, but the defense only allowed two touchdowns to a team that scored over twenty-five points in half of their games. Here are the defenders who impressed at least this observer. Mikai Stewart Lakeville South LB Stewart was all over the field Friday night. His fourteen total tackles led the team using his quickness to get depth on crossing routes and width on throws to the outside. He also sacked the quarterback and later forced the quarterback out of the pocket, allowing his teammate to collect a sack. [player_tooltip player_id="116197" first="Zach" last="Juckel"] Lakeville South DL Juckel had one of my favorite defensive performances of the regular season, and he justified it again on Friday night. His seven tackles – highlighted by an open field tackle on the outside- were great enough, but I was most impressed by his position flexibility. Anoka was hurting the South defense early in the game with a quick passing game into the flat and on shallow crossing routes. With the ball coming out so fast early, an outside pass rush wasn’t getting home. So, Juckel spent much of the game playing kind of a 6’3" 210-pound slot corner to defuse the short passing game. [player_tooltip player_id="18538" first="Hassan" last="Kassim"] Lakeville South DL Kassim was part of a defensive line that allowed less than three yards per carry. He was in the backfield to make a tackle for a short gain to highlight four total tackles. He was also in on the quarterback for two of South’s seven total sacks. [player_tooltip player_id="207136" first="Joey" last="Ulmen"] Lakeville South DB Ulmen looked good in space, making an open-field tackle that prevented a big gain – one of his four tackles. He was part of a defensive backfield that faced 44 pass attempts but only allowed two touchdowns. Payton Schultz Lakeville South LB Schultz turned Anoka’s first big play on offense into a big play for the South defense. The Tornadoes hit a deep crossing route, but Schultz closed on the receiver and forced a fumble – giving the ball back to his offense. He made eleven other tackles dealing with the Anoka passing game – including an open-field tackle that could have gone for big yards. [player_tooltip player_id="49916" first="Delaney" last="Suraju"] Lakeville South DL Suraju picked up two quarterback sacks and was only credited with three tackles, but he made them count. All three of those tackles resulted in short gains, and one of them prevented a first down on a fourth and short. Zak Endress Lakeville South DL Endress put pressure on the quarterback all night. He finished with two sacks, and even when he didn’t get to the quarterback, he was still disruptive, like when he deflected a screen pass.