Vote: Who should be SBLive's Tampa Bay Florida high school football defensive player of the week (10/17/2023)?
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 8.
As such, we have 17 athletes nominated this week for the SBLive’s Tampa Bay Defensive Football Player of the Week award from October 12-13, and we ask you, the fans, to help decide who should indeed be the top athlete selected. Voting will conclude on Saturday, October 21st at 11:59 p.m. The winner will be announced in next week's poll.
Congratulations to last week's winner: Matthew Billiris, LB, Countryside.
Here are this week's nominations:
Callahan Blair, LB, Calvary Christian: The linebacker had four tackles and two interceptions in the Warriors' 27-3 win over Clearwater. Blair is a Vanderbilt commitment.
Keyari James, LB, Clearwater Academy International: James racked up 20 tackles in the Knights' incredible 35-33 win over Sarasota Riverview.
Noah Kacimi, DE, Shorecrest Prep: The defensive end nabbed four tackles for loss and two sacks in a 44-8 win over Sarasota Christian.
Cody Hubbard, LB, Northside Christian: Hubbard tallied nine tackles and two went for a loss in the Mustangs 23-2 win over American Collegiate Academy.
Allen Reynolds, DB, St. Petersburg Catholic: Reynolds stepped up coming on blitzes for the Barons, tallying six tackles and two sacks in a 23-13 win over LaBelle.
Justin Dungy, DB, Carrollwood Day: Dungy, the son of former NFL head coach Tony Dungy, notched an interception in the Patriots' 49-0 win over Seffner Christian.
Hale Sollmann, LB, Durant: Sollmann collected a team-high 16 tackles in helping lift the Cougars to a 28-13 win over Newsome.
Cameron White, DE, Sumner: The defensive end came off the edge and made a team-high 12 tackles in a 40-7 win over Riverview.
William Miller, LB, Steinbrenner: Miller made a team-high 19 tackles in the Warriors' 32-22 win over Palm Harbor University.
Chris Kalu, DT, Largo: The defensive tackle tallied 14 tackles and recovered a fumble in a 34-0 win over Seminole.
Antonio Henley, DT, Gaither: Henley had four tackles for loss and a sack in Gaither's 36-35 loss to Jesuit.
Johnny Tyson, DB, Tampa Bay Tech: The free safety collected 11 tackles, a team-high, in the Titans 23-20 come-from-behind win over Wharton.
Ernest Charles, DE, Pinellas Park: Charles notched three sacks in the Patriots' 17-10 loss to St. Petersburg.
Reggie Thomas, DB, Chamberlain: The defensive back made 11 tackles and two went for a loss in the Storm's 15-0 loss to King.
Will Stillings, LB, Jefferson: The Dragons' linebacker had a team-high 11 tackles and two for loss in a 35-14 loss to Robinson.
Greg Lott, DE, Armwood: Lott came off the edge with purpose in the Hawks' 60-0 win over Freedom as he notched three tackles for loss and two sacks.
Titus Patterson, DB, Plant: In the Panthers' 42-0 win over Plant City, Patterson tallied four tackles, two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown.
-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @sblivefl
