All-Area football: Palmetto’s Alonzo Houston is defensive player of the year

The Bradenton Herald is unveiling its All-Area selections for the 2017 high school fall season. The football defensive team is listed below:

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Alonzo Houston, senior, Palmetto

Position: Linebacker

To his credit: Watch any Palmetto football game and Alonzo Houston usually was the center of most defensive plays. The Tigers’ defense, which was the team’s strength during the past few seasons, was solid again. Houston tallied 115 tackles, including 18 for a loss. He added six sacks and had three interceptions, with one going for a touchdown. Houston’s sparkling high school career ended with some memorable highlights that included getting Palmetto into the playoffs for the first time in a few seasons and knocking off Manatee for the first time in more than a decade.

FIRST TEAM

DL: Reese Lyons, junior, Palmetto

Tallied 43 tackles with 10 for a loss and four sacks.

DL: Parker Lansberg, senior, Saint Stephen’s

A two-way lineman, Lansberg excelled on the defensive line with 10.5 sacks, 9 hurries and 41 tackles with 14 for a loss.

DL: Kam Green, junior, Southeast

Had 43 tackles with 17 for a loss, six sacks, 16 hurries, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble.

DL: Teriq Houston, senior, Southeast

A hybrid player also getting time at linebacker, Houston had 50 tackles, 17 for a loss, five sacks, 10 hurries and one forced fumble.

LB: Noah Font, sophomore, Braden River

Tallied 99 tackles with nine for a loss, two sacks, four pass breakups and one forced fumble.

LB: Chase Sharp, senior, Lakewood Ranch

Had 87 Tackles with 24 solo tackles.

LB: Brandon Dossey, junior, Manatee

Had 70 tackles with 55 solos, one interception, one fumble recovery, one safety and one hurry.

LB: Andrew Duncan, senior, Palmetto

Had 88 tackles, 19 for a loss, three sacks, and an interception for a touchdown.

LB: D.J. Bryant, junior, Southeast

Had 74 tackles, 10 for a loss and forced one fumble.

DB: Cedrick Waters, senior, Manatee

Broke up five passes, had two interceptions, caused one fumble and had 20 tackles.

DB: Derrick Bradley, senior, Palmetto

Had 77 tackles with two for a loss and three interceptions.

DB: Tray Thompskin, senior, Palmetto

Had 73 tackles with two for a loss and four interceptions.

DB: Sydney Brown, senior, Saint Stephen’s

Falcons head coach Tod Creneti called Brown, who signed with Illinois, the most violent defensive player he’s ever coached. Had 51 tackles, with seven for a loss, two interceptions and four pass breakups.

DB: Brandon Shannon, junior, Southeast

Playing a defensive back role in the box at times, Shannon tallied 82 tackles, 16 for a loss, two interceptions, six passes defensed and two forced fumbles.

P: Miguel Rodriguez, senior, Bayshore

Was the first-team All-District selection after averaging 38.7 yards per punt with two registering more than 60 yards.

HONORABLE MENTION

Bayshore: Michael Franks, senior, DB; Jared Richardson, senior, DB; Devon Randall, sophomore, DB; Kenny Wright, senior, LB

Braden River: Taylor Pawelkoski, junior, LB; Chase Knopf, senior, DL; Terrell Thomas, senior, DB; Tyrone Collins, senior, DB; Taylor Upshaw, senior, DL

Bradenton Christian: Winston Spencer, senior, DE; Peter Sand, senior, LB

Lakewood Ranch: Noah Ben-Ghuzzi, senior, LB

Manatee: Sir Williams, senior, DB; Justin Porter, sophomore, LB

Out-of-Door Academy: Ryan Ives, sophomore, DL

Saint Stephen’s: Camden Vining, sophomore, LB; Tyler Burnham, junior, DL; Truman Carlsen, junior, LB

This story was originally published December 22, 2017 at 1:30 PM with the headline "All-Area football: Palmetto’s Alonzo Houston is defensive player of the year."