Vote: Florida FHSAA football state championship defensive player of the week (12/11/2023)
The Florida High School Football FHSAA State Championships at Bragg Memorial Stadium are complete as we finish up our Player of the Week polls.
As such, we have nine athletes nominated this week for the SBLive Florida FHSAA state championships football defensive player of the week award from December 7-9, and we ask you, the fans, to help decide who should indeed be the top athlete selected. Voting will conclude on Sunday, December 17th at 11:59 p.m. The winner will be announced next week.
Editor’s note: Our corresponding poll is intended to be fun, and we do not set limits on how many times a fan can vote during the competition. This poll is specifically for fans to vote on the players that have been nominated and in no way discredits any other player that may not be mentioned in our poll.
Here are the nominations:
Willis McGahee, DE, Columbus: The Nebraska commitment chased Mandarin quarterback Tramell Jones all afternoon long in the Explorers' 38-19 win for the Class 4M title. McGahee notched eight tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble.
Jon Mitchell, DB, Mandarin: Though his effort came in a loss to Columbus, the Penn State commitment played well regardless. Mitchell tallied two forced fumbles and recovered one as well.
Nicholas Rodriguez, DB, St. Thomas Aquinas: The safety was all over the field making tackles as the Raiders pulled off a 31-28 win for the Class 3M state championship against Homestead. Rodriguez notched a team-high 12 tackles.
Titus Bullard, DE, Berkeley Prep: Needing to get pressure on Miami Norland quarterback Ennio Yapoor, Bullard did so in a big way. Bullard tallied three sacks and a forced fumble in the Buccaneers' 28-20 win over the Vikings for the 2M state championship.
Anthony Mattison, LB, Miami Norland: Mattison, a senior linebacker, made a dozen tackles and three went for a loss in the Vikings' loss to Berkeley Prep.
Zach Crothers, DE, Chaminade-Madonna: The Lions' edge rusher provided the Class 1M state champions with constant pressure into the Clearwater Central Catholic backfield. Crothers had eight tackles and four went for a loss.
Zeshon Casimir, DB, Cardinal Mooney: Casimir helped lead the defensive effort that brought home the program's first state championship since 1972. The defensive back notched a team-high 12 tackles in the victory.
Braden Williams, DB, Bradford: The free safety was everywhere on the field making tackles for the Tornadoes in a 20-6 loss to Cocoa for the Class 2S state championship. Williams made a team-high 20 tackles.
Shanard Clower, DB, Lakeland: Clower made sure the Dreadnaughts repeated as state champions with his contributions on defense. The cornerback had two interceptions, with one being returned to the house for a touchdown in Lakeland's 60-48 win over Venice for the 4S crown.
-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @sblivefl
