Chambers at Palisades: Defensive Standouts

In a good game between two 8A contenders, Chambers knocked off Palisades 24-20 to move to 4-0 on the season. With the loss, Palisades falls to 3-1 on the season. There were several offensive players who stood out on both teams, and we will profile them here in this article.    Keland was actively defensively in this game, and the most notable thing I remember from him is one of the things he does best. Keland put a big hit on a ball carrier in space, and his ability to get to the football from anywhere on the field is what he put on display consistently. Ultimately, I don't know what his official position will be on the next level, but I know he's going to be a terror who has great speed and tackling ability all over the field.     Tyson played an overall good game from his linebacker position, and he had a critical play in the game. On a 4th down in Chambers territory, Tyson was able to break up a pass attempt over the middle of the field and intercept it, keeping a scoring opportunity away from Palisades. Tyson reads and diagnoses well, and I thought he did a good job of playing off blocks and getting to the football in this one.     The Chambers defensive line generated consistent pressure in their pass rush in this one, and Antonio was one of the guys leading the charge up front. Antonio did have a sack in this game, and on the play he put a nice move on the right tackle, rushing half a man through his outside shoulder, and used his impressive closing speed to get the quarterback to the ground. Palisades ran away from his side most of the night, respecting his ability as both a run stopper and a quick block-shed player. As of writing this, Antonio picked up an offer from Ohio State University!     This was my first time seeing Jymel live and in person, and I have to say that he's worth every bit of the ranking he has with us at Prep Redzone North Carolina. Palisades had a receiver get off to a hot start, so Chambers switched Jymel onto him to follow him for the rest of the game, and Jymel shut the receiver out from getting any more catches while on him. Chambers trusts him in coverage, as they kept a safety in the middle of the field primarily, as he was locked 1 on 1 at the corner spot. His speed, ball skills, and footwork are all impressive.     Nick had a strong game both on offense and defense in this game. Defensively, Nick came up multiple times in late run support to get tackles in the open field. Offensively, Nick made some important catches, including a 50-yard catch-and-run touchdown to cut the Chambers lead to 4 late in the 4th quarter, giving his team a chance to pull out a late victory. The biggest thing I liked was his leadership - both on the field and the sidelines; Nick was keeping his teammates fired up and into the game.     Noah, as an interior defensive lineman, is playing the best football of his career right now. Noah had a couple of nice stops in the running game where he was able to quickly shed a block and make a tackle on the ball carrier in the middle of the line of scrimmage. Noah also showed some pocket pressure as a pass rusher, forcing some scrambles from pushing the pocket as a pass rusher. With his size, some college coaches should show some interest in him as a college football prospect, in my opinion.     I didn't know much about Kaden coming into this game, but he ended up being the leading tackler for Palisades in this game. Kaden's speed at the linebacker position allowed him to get to a lot of plays quickly, and he did a good job of tackling in the open field. Kaden also had a sack in this game, and on the play, Kaden came off the edge with good quickness and took a good pursuit angle to meet the quarterback in the backfield.

In a good game between two 8A contenders, Chambers knocked off Palisades 24-20 to move to 4-0 on the season. With the loss, Palisades falls to 3-1 on the season. There were several offensive players who stood out on both teams, and we will profile them here in this article.