Throughout the month of April, we'll be publishing some sort of football preview coverage for HSOT Insiders every day.
Today, we'll introduce you to the top defenders who statistically made big plays in the 2A classification. We're looking at three areas for him: sacks, interceptions, and forced fumbles. The only condition is that he played in seven games last season.
In the past we have created articles for top individual tackle returners. That won't be the case this season. There's no good way to compare a player's tackles to those of other programs because statistics aren't really standardized in high school and each team has their own method. Some teams report only solo tackles, while others have several players with over 100 assisted tackles. This year, these articles will be team-based. They rank teams by percent return from groups committed to production in 2023.
We use separate statistics for sacks/game, interceptions/game, and forced fumbles/game. Because these categories are more concise (and to be honest, less controversial than some of the reported tackle numbers). We use per-game efficiency statistics because bulk numbers like total sacks or total interceptions can be deceptive and don't necessarily correlate year-to-year.
Note: If a player's stats are not published to MaxPreps or sent to me, they will not be included below.
HSOT Insiders: Preparing for the 2024 Football Season
Returning top 2A defensive leaders: Sacks per game.
Players are listed with their promotion grade and school. Minimum 2023 matches to qualify: 7. Number of matches will eliminate ties.
1. Ryan Conotillo, Sr. DL, Pine Lake Prep — 1.455 sacks/game (12 games played)
2. O'Maurie Phillips, Sr. OLB, Farmville Central — 1.042 sacks/game (11 games played)
3. Brycen White, Sr. EDGE, South Granville — 1.0 sacks/game (12 appearances)
T4. Zion Godley, Sr. DL, Walkertown — 0.75 sacks/game (10 games played)
T4. Zion Brown, Sr. DE, Brevard — 0.75 sacks/game (10 games played)
6. Xavier Johnson, Sr. MLB, North Forsyth — 0.75 sacks/game (8 games played)
7. Javion Harris, Sr. DT, Camden County — 0.7 sacks/game (13 games played)
8. Keshon Tripp, Sr. LB, Holmes — 0.7 sacks/game (10 games played)
9. Oliver Morris, Sr. DE, Davidson Community School — 0.692 sacks/game (13 appearances)
10. Yoel DeLeon, Sr. OLB, Monroe — 0.692 sacks/game (12 games played)
11. Marshall McGowan, Sr. LB, Burns — 0.667 sacks/game (10 games played)
12. Desian Roberts, junior DT, St. Pauls — 0.65 sacks/game (11 appearances)
13. Raheim Misher, Sr. OLB, Maiden — 0.636 sacks/game (11 appearances)
14. Gavin Helms, Sr. DE, North Stanley — 0.636 sacks/game (8 games played)
15. Antwon McCoy, Sophomore DL, St. Pauls — 0.625 sacks/game (13 games played)
Returning top 2A defensive leaders: Interceptions per game.
Players are listed with their promotion grade and school. Minimum 2023 matches to qualify: 7. Ties broken when most matches have been played.
1. Marshall McGowan, Sr. LB, Burns — 1 INT/game (8 games played)
2. Nicholas Gregory, junior cornerback, Seaforth — 0.75 INT/game (12 games played)
3. Benny Howard, Sr. DB, Salisbury — 0.667 INT/game (9 games played)
T4. Quaidon Holder, Sr. CB, Southwest Onslow — 0.556 INT/game (9 games played)
T4. Michael Suggs Jr., Sr. OLB, Greene Central — 0.556 INT/game (9 games played)
T4. Chase Farlow, Sr. SAF, Randleman — 0.556 INT/game (9 games played)
T4. Nicholas Glover, Jr. DB, Jordan Matthews — 0.556 INT/game (9 games played)
8. Gianni Jacobs, Junior OLB, Hendersonville — 0.5 INT/game (11 games played)
T9. Tyshaun Goldston, Sr. DB, Randleman — 0.5 INT/game (10 games played)
T9. Jaylan Hester, Sr. DB, JF Webb — 0.5 INT/game (10 games played)
11. Cam Nelson, Senior SAF, Trinity — 0.455 INT/game (9 games played)
12. Tyrik Henry, senior cornerback, Lexington — 0.444 INT/game (12 games played)
13. Micah McCoy, Sr. ATH, Community School of Davidson — 0.417 INT/game (12 games played)
14. Micah Webster, Sr. DB, West Stokes — 0.417 INT/game (10 games played)
T15. Cedric Zeno, Senior CB, Anson — 0.4 INT/game (10 games played)
T15. Trayveon Bell, Sr. SAF, North Forsyth — 0.4 INT/game (10 games played)
2A's top returning defense leaders: Forced fumbles per game.
Players are listed with their promotion grade and school. Minimum 2023 games to qualify: 7. The tie was broken once most of the matches had been played.
1. Nhymezz Lockett, Sr. DT, Southwest Onslow — 0.75 FF/game (11 games played)
2. Blake McClellan, senior OLB, East Rutherford — 0.546 FF/game (8 games played)
3. Josh Barnett, Sr. LB, JF Webb — 0.5 FF/game (11 appearances)
4. Eli Williard, Jr. NG, North Johnston — 0.455 FF/game (10 games played)
5. Omillion Barber, Sr. DL, Hendersonville — 0.4 FF/game (13 appearances)
6. Oliver Morris, Sr. DE, Davidson Community School — 0.385 FF/game (11 appearances)
7. Zaren Aki Watkins, Sr. DE, East Rutherford — 0.364 FF/game (12 games played)
8. Jordan Young, Sr. DB, Monroe — 0.333 FF/game (10 games played)
9. David Greenway, Sr. MLB, Seaforth — 0.3 FF/game (7 games played)
10. Thomas Perez, Sr. OLB, Midway — 0.286 FF/game (11 games played)
T11. Jaelyn Sheff, Sr. DL, Walkertown — 0.286 FF/game (7 games played)
T11. Jaqualyn Lyles, Sr. ATH, Anson — 0.286 FF/game (7 games played)
13. Jack Smith, Sr. DL, Pine Lake Prep — 0.273 FF/game (11 games played)
14. Landen Bond, Sr. ILB, East Duplin — 0.273 FF/game (12 games played)
T15. Hampton Reed, Jr. DB, Maiden — 0.25 FF/game (12 games played)
T15. Parker Gay, Sr. DE, Southwest Edgecombe — 0.25 FF/game (12 games played)
T15. Zion Brown, Sr. DE, Brevard — 0.25 FF/game (12 games played)
T15. Judson Weaver, Sr. DE, Brevard — 0.25 FF/game (12 games played)
T15. Key Darden, Jr. DE, Southwest Edgecombe — 0.25 FF/game (12 games played)
T15. Keegan Bostick, Sr. OLB, West Lincoln — 0.25 FF/game (8 games played)
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