FIELDER’S CHOICE: Getting defensive about an MVP
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.
