A new award for the defense

As you know by now, the defensive stats from each game can be found on the 2008 Tornado Stats page of TornadoPride.com. For the record, the team's leading tackler in each of the first two games was senior safety Michael Shook (16 total tackles in each game). This past week, however, junior linebacker Tyler Barnette topped the charts with 16 total tackles. He also broke up a pass and had a couple of "quarterback pressures." So I'm awarding The Garnet & Gold Report's Terrible Terry Tate Defensive MVP Award to Tyler this week.

I also want to give some special recognition to junior Jason Hill. Jason saw significant playing time Friday night as an extra defensive back to defend against the Bandys passing attack. Jason finished the game with eight total tackles (putting him 3rd on the list behind Barnette and Shook) and also intercepted a Trojan pass and caused a fumble. He is also one of the fastest players on the team, so this is clearly just the beginning of his impact on the defense. I am looking forward to seeing him continue to develop as a player. Congratulations to Tyler Barnette, Jason Hill and the entire Tornado defense!