Best Defense?

Who are some of the best defensive units in 4A/3A? and who arguably has the best?

 

ill go with alexander central..front 7 is awesome...

 

Well I will have to say AC has as tough a defense as I have seen this year. The other ones in the conference that I have heard bout and know that they normally in past yrs have had a good defense is Hibriten and St. Stephens.

 

I'd go with Hibriten....6pts to hickory and that was late in the 4th Q......most pts they have give up all year is 23 and they have only trailed a total of 3 quarters all year.....I think many of you here (mostly AC folks) are overlooking Hibriten.

 

not me..

I'm not overlooking Hibriten at all. Hopefully I'm one of the ones that you were leaving out when u said most. I respect the heck out of Hibriten. Last year they were the only team to beat Newton Conover. They have a formidable rushing attack with nobody that a defense can key on. They have an outstanding defense. I think Hibriten and AC are the 2 best overall teams in the conference, but they must go out and prove it week after week. If they rely on peoples thoughts on previous weeks then AC will end up 6-5 because they wont win another game if they do this. They must go out each week and play it like a must win. Only thing that could make the hype more for the possible matchup at the end of the year with AC/Hibriten would be for them to be same classification. Hibriten travels to St. Stephens this week I believe am I right?? Could be interesting game there.

 

Expand your horizons

I didn't mean for this to be another AC thread, as much as I think AC deserves the hype, please let's expand our horizons outside Alexander county. It can be any team in 4A or 3A. Preferably 4A and gives reasons why they're having success. It be nice to hear about some of the players leading these units.

 

I have attended several local games this year and East Burke's defense is underrated. They played lights out against Hibriten and should have won that game.

 

They led 7-0 at half then Hib ran of 21 unanswered......says more to me about how good Hibriten played in the 2nd half than EB.....EB was the beneficiary of an interference call that kept the game as close as it was.

 

Stopper.. are u serious??

Most people around here in dealing with 4A.. theres only a few to choose from. Especially since EB and Freedom dropped down classification. I don't see why you have to fuss at people for discussing AC again. There's alot of people from AC on here. We have all mentioned Hibriten and some of the other teams as well. Watauga must have a fairly good defense as well because didn't they hold Shelby down on points earlier this year?

 

you mean like this stopper?

Ragsdale Tigers. Ranked in top five of most polls. 6-0 on the season. They given up an average of only around 8 ppg. Page is the only team to score more than once on them and two of those came in the fourth Q after Ragsdale had run out to a 42-7 lead.

They've played a tough schedule. Had three inside the ten yard line holds on first and goals this season, two against Dudley. Defense has scored three TDs. Held Person County to 65 yards total offense - 52 came on one play. They've only given up three first half TDs in six games. The other four came in the fourth quarter after the games were already decided.

as to players leading the team I posted this on another board regarding players maybe getting over looked by recruiters ( I have no first hand knowledge so I say over looked because you sure don't see any of their names on any top recruits lists).



Walt Sparks linebacker and long snapper. 3 year starter. goes around 6'3" 230. Great kid, great player. He is always around the ball. Understands the game and what he's supposed to do. He would be valuable just as a long snapper where he is top notch. Great student and leader.

Billy Stone - linebacker and Sparks' partner in crime. He is also a three year starter. He's smaller - about 5'10 190 but man does he get after people. One or both of these guys are in on so many tackles. You hear their names called all game long.

Cedric Ellison - DT Big Ced is around 6'0 300 pounds and is very quick on his feet for such a big man. He is one of the reasons why Sparks and Stone make so many tackles.

Neil Jones is the other DT - goes around 6'0 240. He and Ellison both do a great job clogging up the opposing O line.

Daniel McNeil - Big D. Daniel is about 6'2 240 and is fast and strong from his DE spot. He creates a lot of disruption in the backfield. Recovered a fumble last week and had a TD n a fumble recovery against Person.

Keith Hanford - almost a book end to McNeil just a little taller. 6'3" 240 and just as fast. Keith broke his leg during the Page game last year but he is back at full strength now. Both Hanford and McNeil have big frames and are very athletic for theor size. They both look like they could handle the extra pounds a college weight training program would put on them.

Chris Armwood - cornberback. Not sure his size - I'd say around 5'10 170. Super speed. Good cover man. He's got track speed but is a great form tackler too. A couple of INTs. Return man has both punt and KO TD returns this year.

Darius McQueen - safety. Not sure on his size either, but about the same as Armwood. He does everything on defense. Interceptions, fumble recoveries and is one of the teams leading tacklers. He is blessed with a lot of good players in front of him, but he is also blessed with a nose for the ball that lets him be a playmaker on defense. He has two fumble recoveries for TDs in the last two weeks.