FIELDER'S CHOICE: Getting defensive about an MVP
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FIELDER'S CHOICES
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Posted: Dec. 9, 2009 | 4:43 p.m.
It pains me that there’s no high school football game to pick this week.
What’s that?
Yeah, I know Bishop Gorman plays the school that isn’t a school in basketball Saturday night at Orleans Arena, but it’s not the same.
As cold as it’s been, though, I don’t miss going outside to watch practices. This body was not built for cold.
Awards week moves on, and today I give out my Defensive MVP award. Check back Thursday night for the final award — the Offensive MVP, which can’t go to me because I don’t score enough.
The nominees for Defensive MVP are: Palo Verde’s Daniel Godkin; Bishop Gorman’s Alex Turner; Del Sol’s Evan Weinstock; and Gorman’s Tim Wilkinson.
Who’s Tim Wilkinson, you say?
“Huntin’ Dog” as he’s called by coaches and teammates — not me, most of the time (because he’s big) — is a 5-foot-11-inch, 280-pound beast of a lineman.
And he might have been the unsung hero of Gorman’s defensive line.
Let’s face it, when you have defensive ends like Turner and Jalen Grimble, trying to make a mark for yourself on the line isn’t easy.
All Wilkinson did was finish third on the team in tackles (67), second in sacks (8 1/2) and tie for the team lead in fumble recoveries (2).
Not bad for a guy a lot of people hadn’t heard of coming into the year.
Having Turner by his side only helped both guys.
Turner was great two years ago as a sophomore when Gorman won the title. He’s only gotten bigger and better since then.
I don’t think anyone really wanted to run at Turner, but he still led the Gaels in tackles (71). Double-team efforts blocking him didn’t work too well because he led the team in sacks with nine.
He’s just flat-out great, and Turner and Wilkinson were big reasons why Gorman allowed only nine points per game.
It’s hard to find a better linebacker than Palo’s Godkin.
Another guy who opponents tried to neutralize, Godkin simply blew up offenses, registering at least 10 tackles in five different games.
Five games deep into the Panthers’ season, Godkin had 41 tackles, and Palo’s opponents had 14 points.
He finished with 103 tackles, but that’s not the whole story. Throw in two sacks, five passes defended, an interception and two fumble recoveries — one returned 59 yards for a touchdown — and it’s easy to see how much he meant to his team.
But I’m not sure anyone meant as much to his team’s success on defense as my Defensive MVP ...
Del Sol’s Weinstock.
Before you bombard me with “Del Sol allowed 62 points to Gorman” e-mails, consider this:
Weinstock was the Dragons’ only returnee on offense. The pressure was on him to lead on that side of the ball and play well as a defensive back, too.
He ran so much, I got tired watching him.
With barely a break, Weinstock turned around on defense and was fourth on the team in tackles. Not bad.
He also had three fumble recoveries, two fumbles caused and 13 passes defended. Again, not bad.
Now throw in seven interceptions. Yes, seven. As in one every other game.
Weinstock scored three touchdowns on defense this year – two interception returns and a fumble return.
At some point, you’d think teams would stop throwing his way.
On a team full of banged-up two-way starters, Weinstock did way more than show his importance. He led — all the way to the title game.
Check back Thursday night for the Offensive MVP.
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ohwhatohman2 wrote on December 26, 2009 12:41 PM:
oh man- go check out the all state first and second team article.... you will see #9 Toalei there, yeah on first team defense... don't discredit someone just because YOU have never heard of him... thanks....
Thee Ath #4 wrote on December 21, 2009 10:48 PM: its funny how yall talk about all of these other people but william purcell. This kid was the nw defensive mvp. did you hear me the nw people, the black&blue division where there's nothing but run teams. william ended up with over 150 tackles. and if you dont like him what about rodney gilmore. yes, rodney gilmore the nevadaprepreport.com defensive mvp. OHWHATOHMAN wrote on December 14, 2009 03:26 PM: OH MAN, if you were a junior in high school and due to transfer reasons could not play your whole junior year would you think a lot of people would hear about you? OBVIOUSLY NOT! Now with #09 TOALEI he had to go through that sort of ordeal his junior year and now that it is his senior year he basically had to play his heart out and for all that he has gone through with practices and not getting playing time on the field a year before he has done pretty darn good for himself and deserves all that he has accomplished. And just FYI "OH MAN" don't judge other's if you can't get the facts straight. To all MVP's Congratulations, definitely look forward to next season. laura wrote on December 10, 2009 09:18 PM: GO EVAN..... the kid never leaves the field. the only break he gets is half time. BobbyJr. wrote on December 10, 2009 05:52 PM: Bishop Gorman "CHEATS". End of story. pigskin fan wrote on December 10, 2009 05:18 PM: TRUTH, you may be sick of Godkin but Hodge graduated last year and Olson miss almost all season with injuries. Godkin made All-State at DE last year and tore up at MLB this year. And he is a Rivals, Scout and ESPN 3-Star with numerous D-1 offers as both a DE and MLB. fbcrazy wrote on December 10, 2009 11:59 AM: What about Eric Underhill? He was the SW defensive MVP, and the overall sunset defensive MVP on another recruiting website. HE'S A BEAST! oh man wrote on December 10, 2009 10:53 AM: commenter's - up here in the north we haven't heard of #9 Toalei. Everytime I read about liberty it was about the team or the tai's. Stop tooting your own horn! Well, has he even had an offer for school? The other nominees have been! Just pointing out the obvious Truth wrote on December 10, 2009 10:22 AM: I'm sick of hearing about Godkin, he wasn't even the best defensive player on his own team. Sidney Hodge, Dillon Chaison, and the Olsen kid. He wasn't the best defensive player in his conference either. SolPlyr wrote on December 10, 2009 10:00 AM: Is that Findley Prep/Gorman game going to be on TV? Being in the north, I'm not able to be at the game live but would love to see the two best teams in the south (one of which is probably the best team in the country). Read More Comments |
