Ashland County's top returning defensive football players

With high school football season a week away, the Ashland Times-Gazette will take a look at the key returning players on the defensive side of the ball in Ashland County.

Tyler Sauder, Ashland

During his junior year as a defensive back, Sauder might have been the Arrows most productive defensive player. The First-Team OCC selection collected 99 tackles (60 solo), had four interceptions, three tackles for a loss, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

Joey Isenhart, Ashland

As a junior defensive lineman, Isenhard recorded 35 tackles (11 solo) for the Arrows and was an Ohio Cardinal Conference honorable mention choice.

Gunner Lacey, Ashland

The Arrows defensive back was an Second-Team Ohio Cardinal Conference in his sophomore year.

Ryan Graves, Black River

As a junior linebacker, Graves had 39 tackles (8 solo) and one tackle for a loss.

Dylan Burge, Crestview

As a sophomore defensive back, Burge emerged and led the Cougars with 126 tackles (20 solo), had eight pass breakups, four tackles for loss and two interceptions. Burge was an Northwest District honorable mention selection.

Brady Heller, Hillsdale

As a first-year starter during his sophomore season, Heller had a nice year at inside linebacker. Heller had 83 tackles, two tackles for loss, two interceptions, one sack and a 84-yard interception return for a touchdown in one game for the Falcons.

Grayson Allis, Hillsdale

As one of the Falcons team captains as a junior, Allis had 32 tackles, two sacks and one tackle for a loss as a defensive lineman.

Lincoln Jones, Hillsdale

At defensive tackle as a junior, Jones had 43 tackles, three tackles for losses, two sacks, and one fumble recovery for the Falcons.

Logan Dubois and Ajay Workman, Mapleton

Dubois (defensive lineman) and Workman (linebacker) are expected to be two of the Mounties leading players on the defensive unit this season.

Cole Frankart, South Central

As a sophomore linebacker, Frankart had 50 tackles, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries, one tackle for a loss, one pass breakup, one forced fumble and one interception for a touchdown for the Trojans.

Aaron Hauler, South Central

Also the Trojans starting quarterback, Hauler made a difference on the defensive side at safety, as he was a Second-Team Firelands Conference selection. Hauler had 47 tackles, two interceptions, three pass breakups, one fumble recovery and one blocked kick.

jsimpson@gannett.com

Twitter/X:@JamesSimpsonII

James Simpson II is a sports reporter with the Ashland Times-Gazette, and was recently at the Mansfield News Journal. He is a self-published author and has gotten the opportunity to interview sports figures like Bernard Hopkins, Norm Nixon, Vince Dooley, Jimmie Johnson, etc., for stories at different publications. He also produced a pretty cool feature on late NBA great Wilt Chamberlain.

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Ashland County's top returning defensive football players