Southern Section’s Top 5 Returning Tackling Leaders
As the news wire is full of recruiting updates and COVID-19 schedule changes, it’s time to take a look at what actually happens on the field. College recruiters focus primarily on a player’s size, agility and speed that they display…
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Continue ReadingAs the news wire is full of recruiting updates and COVID-19 schedule changes, it’s time to take a look at what actually happens on the field.
College recruiters focus primarily on a player’s size, agility and speed that they display in various camps but racking up tackles is still a valuable skill.
These guys aren’t piling up college offers but with many of the sport’s top stars opting out of playing their senior season in favor of enrolling in college early, these five will draw plenty of recruiting interest over the course of the season. Here are the top five returning tackling leaders in the Southern Section. All five are from the class of 2021.
Carson Irons, Sunny Hills, Fullerton. 186 tackles
Irons doubles as a running back and moves well laterally as a linebacker. He wreaks havoc in the backfield and had a pair of sacks for the CIF-champion Lancers. He had 92 solo tackles, which is the second most among returning players. He had the game-winning interception in the semifinal game against Trabuco Hills to send Sunny Hills to its first CIF-championship game since 1992. He has a few offers including Johns Hopkins, Northern Arizona, Penn and Princeton.
Junior Season Highlights 👀 pic.twitter.com/3DEgdkKlKz
— Carson Irons (@CarsonIrons) February 5, 2020
Sebastian Deleon, Crescenta Valley, La Crescenta. 163 tackles
Like Irons, Deleon moonlights as a running back and uses his athleticism to make plays as a middle linebacker. He had double-digit tackles in 10 of the team’s 14 games last season and had more than double the amount of the tackles than any of his teammates. He had 23 tackles for a loss for a Crescenta Valley team which went undefeated and won the CIF-SS Division 10 championship.
Giulio Fernandes, El Toro, Lake Forest. 155 tackles
Fernandes racked up massive tackling numbers on an overmatched El Toro team last season. The Chargers only won one game on the field last season but they played in the very tough South Coast League and Fernandes delivered against top competition. He had 17 tackles against San Clemente and 22 against Tesoro. El Toro has a new coaching staff and will play in the slightly weaker Sea View League, where Fernandes is one of the league’s top returning defensive players.
Congratulations to LB Giulio Fernandes for being selected 1st Team Defense of the South Coast League. He finished with 155 total tackles and 23 of those were TFL. @Etfootball1 @FernandesGiulio pic.twitter.com/Hu1lPrn8vG
— Andy Diaz (@Coach_DiazFB) November 28, 2019
Justin Gonzalez, Alhambra, Alhambra. 145 tackles
The Moors are a “gang-tackling” team with five players on last year’s team with over 100 assisted tackles. One of those players is Gonzalez who is a versatile linebacker that can play inside and outside. He had 21 tackles in a win over Bell Gardens and 17 tackles in the CIF-SS Division 13 semifinal game against Ramona.
Devin Medhat, South, Torrance. 132 tackles.
At 5-foot-10, 195-pounds, Medhat isn’t a physically imposing linebacker, but he is quick and moves well laterally. One of his biggest strengths is that he is not afraid to face linemen in the running game and take a big hit. He played well in South’s biggest games last season, posting 11 tackles against Inglewood and 11 against rival North Torrance.