Tampa Bay High School Footbll Defensive Player of the Week (Sep. 14-15): Vote Now
High school football is back in the Sunshine State and so begins our Player of the Week polls for areas all around the state. Teams started off the regular season with some great individual performances in Week 4.
As such, we have eight athletes nominated this week for the SBLive’s Tampa Bay Defensive Football Player of the Week award from September 14-15, and we ask you, the fans, to help decide who should indeed be the top athlete selected. Voting will conclude on Saturday, September 23 at 11:59 p.m. The winner will be announced in next week's poll.
Here are this week's nominations.
Will Miller, LB, Steinbrenner: Miller had another big game in the books for the Warriors as the linebacker tallied 11 tackles, four for loss and a sack in a 31-10 win over Lennard.
JR Hart, DL, Plant: In the Battle for South Tampa, Hart came through in a big way for the Panthers. Hart had a sack, forced fumble, recovered fumble and a touchdown in the 21-14 win over Robinson.
Malachi Johnson, LB, Strawberry Crest: Johnson helped lead a Chargers' defense that pitched a 40-0 shutout of Leto as the linebacker had three tackles for loss and two sacks.
Matthew Stahl, DL, Tampa Bay Tech: The defensive end wreaked havoc in the Titans' 53-0 rout of Bloomingdale, notching six tackles and two sacks.
Hunter Smith, LB, Durant: Despite a 17-14 loss to Plant City, Smith was a standout for the Cougars. Smith tallied 13 tackles, four for a loss and two sacks.
Matthew Surber, LB, Indian Rocks Christian: Though it was an offensive showcase between Indian Rocks Christian and St. Petersburg Catholic, Surber tallied a game-high 10 tackles.
Bari Williams, DB, Largo: The defensive back helped shutdown the passing lanes in the Packers' 21-6 win over Gibbs. Williams had four tackles, an interception and two passes batted down.
Jordan Thomas, LB, Tarpon Springs: The linebacker helped lift the Spongers to their first 3-0 start since 2013 as he racked up 10 tackles in the win.
-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @sblivefl
