7 Key Defensive Players to Watch in the Semifinals

It's semifinals week in Arizona, and the tension for a state ring is growing bigger. As you could guess, there are some prime time matchups across the brackets in every division. Big matchups also means big challenges, and there are a number of players who will have key impacts this week. Take a look at 7 defensive players that will have a major impact on Friday night: <strong>Russell Davis, DE, Hamilton HS (C/O 2022)</strong> Davis has been a threat all season as he has racked up 11 sacks and has stepped up big in prime time games. He shows a very good initial get off and uses good quickness to get around OT's to put pressure on the QB. Davis has also shown excellent finesse and athleticism which creates a big mismatch for an OT to get any leverage on him. He does an excellent job of disengaging with blocks as he shows deceiving power. Davis has very good length and coordination, and his been a major problem for everyone that has faced him this season. He will have to put pressure on the dangerous Salpointe Catholic QB and University of Arizona commit [player_tooltip player_id="42798" first="Treyson" last="Bourguet"] to help the tough Hamilton defense contain a high scoring Salpointe offense. [player_tooltip player_id="42782" first="Anthony" last="Lucas"], DL, Chaparral HS (C/O 2022) Lucas has been guy to game plan for if you're an opposing offense all year, as he has excellent size and strength to bully around O-linemen. Lucas has shown exceptional power and quick, violent hands to disrupt opponents. Lucas does a great job of shedding blocks and shows a great POA. The power 5 talent will have a major role in stopping an explosive O'connor offense, as the Felts-Fontaine duo has been legit. However, Lucas and the rest of the Chaparral defense have played extremely well and have been underrated all year. Chaparral did not give up a defensive TD in the last two weeks to Pinnacle or Casteel, and Lucas's ability to get pressure on QB's has been clutch. Lucas will have a busy night, as he will have to get a solid pass rush on Felts and recognize the tight mesh run scheme to disrupt the O'connor offense. <strong>Jack Howell, ATH, Hamilton HS (C/O 2021)</strong> The Colorado transplant and Colorado State commit will have to continue his fly-around mentality to have a clutch performance against Salpointe Catholic. Along with Davis, Howell will have to spy on Bourguet as he is a legit dual threat QB and big play maker. Howell shows good speed and excellent range as a FS, and his been able to prevent big plays all season. Howell shows a solid POA and is an impressive open field tackler. Howell has shown good closing speed on underneath routes with solid route recognition all around. Howell will have to blanket the Hamilton secondary to continue to prevent big plays this week against an explosive Salpointe Catholic offense. [player_tooltip player_id="42755" first="Kam" last="Cullimore"], LB, Highland HS (C/O 2021) Cullimore has racked up 91 tackles and his been the anchor of the Highland defense. Cullimore has done a great job of meeting ball carriers at the LOS and utilizes a good POA to prevent them from slipping away or bouncing off. He also shows a good striking ability as he has been a big hitter throughout the season, but will have to play disciplined to not give Boulder Creek cheap yards. He has done a good job of disengaging with blocks to make quick tackles. Cullimore will go head-to-head with Arizona Player of the Year candidate RB [player_tooltip player_id="42646" first="Jacob" last="Cisneros"], and will have an extremely tough role in containing him, as nobody has been able to do so all year. Cisneros has thrived off of breaking tackles and shaking LB's, and Cullimore has been one of the nastiest players to meet head on. Therefore, Friday night will be a dog fight at Boulder Creek. <strong>Justin Holmes, ATH, Cactus HS (C/O 2022)</strong> Holmes is a threat as a pass rusher, as he shows a quick initial get off with a good POA. He is a solid outside run stopper, as he takes excellent pursuit paths and flies to the ball. Holmes does a very good job of attacking the ball to cause fumbles or ball carriers to hesitate. He shows good speed which helps him with his range as it is tough to run the ball outside on Holmes side. He plays smart and doesn't bite on play action, which he will have to continue to do against Casa Grande QB [player_tooltip player_id="42811" first="Angel" last="Flores"]. Flores is dangerous, especially when he has time to throw and room to work. Holmes will have to be in Flores face all night to force quick throws and limit the Casa Grande air attack to secure a W against a tough offense. <strong>Payson Cardon, DE, Snowflake HS (C/O 2021)</strong> Cardon has been a menace as a pass rusher on a brutally tough Snowflake defense. He has been able to rack up 11 sacks, 16 TFL's, and 19 hurries. His speed and quickness gives him a major upside, as he has been able to frequently use this to get around tackles to get to the QB. His lateral quickness mixed with his athleticism has been a major disadvantage for OT's in 3A, as they are not quick enough to get out and reach him. If the OT's get too far out, he utilizes his lateral quickness and a quick hand sweep to get inside them and into the backfield. He does a good job of recognizing the run, but does his best work as a pass rusher. He'll face off against a gunslinger in [player_tooltip player_id="42744" first="Jack" last="Ricedorff"], and will have to pressure him to force him to make plays out of the pocket. <strong>Gabriel Monaco, DE, O'Connor HS (C/O 2021)</strong> Monaco has been a very effective pass rusher with 8 sacks in the regular season, and will have to put pressure on Chaparral QB [player_tooltip player_id="42815" first="Brayten" last="Silbor"] in order to have a shot to beat them. Chaparral's offense has been red hot, and Silbor in the pocket is as dangerous as they come as of late. Monaco has a good initial get off and does a good job of disengaging in blocks with OT's to quickly swarm to the QB. He has shown good leverage and athletic hands on his opponents and will have to utilize very bit of his talent against a big and talented Chaparral O-line. Monaco is going to have to have a big game to advance, and it will be interesting to watch how Monaco will effect the Chaparral pass game.