BRISTOL HERALD COURIER u TriCities.com SATURDAy, FEBRUARy 8, 2014 u B52013 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

DLHunter Hayden

Marion, senior

48 solo tackles, 29 assists, 18 tackles for loss, three sacks,

two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

DLCarter Harlow

John Battle, senior

105 tackles, 20 assists, six tackles for loss, seven sacks, one fumble recovery, three

forced fumbles and a safety.

DLMichael Obuekwe

Virginia High, senior

45 total tackles for the Bearcats, 28 were solo. Seven tackles for a loss, played both

DL and DE.

DLRyan Fleenor

Tennessee High, sophomore

Came back from an early season injury to provide a

spark on the Viking defensive line.

LBLogan Rasnic

Gate City, freshman

91 solo tackles, 74 assists, 11 tackles for a loss. Also forced

two fumbles, recovered one to go with two interceptions and

two deflected passes.

LBFrank Taylor

Richlands, senior

147 tackles, four tackles, 16 tackles for a loss, two

forced fumbles for the Blue Tornado.

LBTristan Yates

Haysi, junior

156 tackles, four sacks. Had 22 tackles vs. Galax in the postseason and added 16

stops against Altavista in 1A semifinal game.

LBErick Sampson

Tennessee High, senior

Tackling machine for the Vikings, heading to NAIA

power Kentucky Christian to play.

DBJason Prater

Northwood, senior

Four interceptions, two returned for scores, 64 tackles

for the Panthers. First-team all-conference, first-team

all-state.

DBDesmond Burney

Union, senior

Six interceptions, two defensive touchdowns, three

fumble recoveries for the Bears. 31 tackles, first-team

2A West.

DBBen Brown

Richlands, senior

Five interceptions, 23 pass breakups and two takeaways

— including a big stop in a playoff win against

Virginia High.

DBLukas Hart

Abingdon, junior

38 tackles, 22 solo. Six interceptions and four

pass breakups for the Falcons.

UTKelly Thompson

J.I. Burton, senior

The jack of all trades for the Raiders. 792 rushing yards,

308 receiving yards, 37.5 tackles during

the regular season.

PJordan Edwards

Sullivan Central, seniorHandled all kicking duties

for the Cougars. Served as a weapon with his hang time

and pinning opponents deep.

so I’d take a nap and then I’d get up and be ready to go.”

Some teammates sit in their lockers listening to music, oth-ers chat quietly and some are as tense as you can get. Yet, before he gives opponents nightmares, Yates is catching up on his Zs.

“Me and some of the other guys are nervous and have some jitters, but Tristan’s sprawled out in the middle of the fieldhouse snoozing away. That’s his thing,” said Haysi quarterback Jalen Sykes. “Tristan never lets things get to him. He’s the same on a Monday as he is on a Friday night or a Saturday playoff game.”

Preseason. Postseason.Friday nights. Saturday after-

noons.Practice Field. Under the

lights. Weightroom. Stadium.It didn’t matter the time or the

place in 2013, as Yates went all out, all the time and as a result is the Bristol Herald Courier’s Defensive Player of the Year. If you played against Haysi and touched the ball this past season, you were probably hit – and hit hard – by the 5-foot-7, 160-pound powder keg wearing No. 34.

“He’s pretty relentless,” said Haysi assistant coach Mike Ow-ens. “It didn’t matter where you were, he was there.”

Lethal linebackerThe statistics show that Yates

collected 156 tackles, including four sacks, during his junior season. As a fullback, he rushed for 502 yards on 100 carries and scored nine touchdowns.

Yet, the numbers really don’t do justice to the impact he made.

How good was he?Ask one of his peers: J.I. Bur-

ton middle linebacker Matthew Branham.

“He played with high intensity and was around the football ev-ery play,” said Branham, whose team lost to Haysi in the state quarterfinals.

Query Casey Dye, Honaker’s dual-threat quarterback.

“He has football instincts,” Dye said. “He doesn’t wait for plays to develop. He goes and blows up the plays before the offense can get started.”

Solicit the opinion of Galax running back Steven Peoples, who exchanged punishing licks all day with Yates in a second-round playoff game. Peoples rushed for 341 yards that day, while Yates racked up 22 tackles in Haysi’s 40-25 victory.

What Yates considers his

hardest hit of the season was delivered to Peoples.

“Steven Peoples was a good running back and a hard run-ner,” Yates said. “He put his head up in the hole and I hit him. It gave me a little daze to it. … I felt it and I know he felt it.”

Ask Altavista quarterback Juan Thornhill, the future University of Virginia Cavalier who ended Haysi’s season in the state semi-finals. Thornhill put up impres-sive statistics in a 34-22 victory, but Yates was in hot pursuit of the signal caller all afternoon long and managed 16 stops.

“A D-I prospect or not, he’ll hit anybody,” Sykes said.

It was that pad-popping pro-duction that helped Haysi win a school-record 13 games and reach the VHSL 1A semifinals. Living up to his position on D, Yates was in the middle of it all.

“He’s got a nose for the foot-ball,” said Haysi head coach James Colley.

Tackling machineTo become a tackling ma-

chine, you could say Tristan Yates followed these five easy steps.

1) Motivation: As a youngster Yates was toughened up – and pushed – by his brother, Alex, who was a starting center for the Tigers before graduating in 2011. Those backyard games were intense.

“When I was little, my brother was like you ain’t no good, you ain’t no good,” Yates said. “I wanted to prove my point to him.”

On the field, he draws inspira-tion from Haysi’s loyal fans.

“When the crowd’s crazy, that’s more of a pump up for me than anything,” Yates said. “It’s good when the crowd gets crazy. … I think the fans helped us out overall and were awesome.”

2) Work Ethic: During the summer, Yates works in the maintenance department at Breaks Interstate Park. In the heat and humidity, he can usu-ally be found chopping wood, handling a weed-eater or taking care of some cleaning tasks.

“Busting wood all day helps me out a lot for football,” Yates said. “I can remember being out there thinking about having a drink of cold water. When I get to two-a-days, I am calm and relaxed.”

When the Tigers partake in their daily conditioning ses-sions, Yates usually leads the way.

“I can say from day one of summer camp, Tristan worked as hard as anybody on our team in conditioning,” Owens said. “Tristan was one of the three or four guys that pushed it the extra limit. He was in excellent,

excellent shape to play middle linebacker and fullback and all the special teams. I don’t re-member him ever getting hurt. So, his conditioning was really good.”

3) Team Player: Yates and Bowen anchored Haysi’s defense and doled out punish-ment. However, some of their hardest hits may have come against each other in practice.

“Tuesday is our tackling day and we do individual stuff,” Col-ley said. “One-on-one and oh yeah, Tristan and Jeffrey every week were going at it. I had to tell those guys easy, easy, we need you to play Friday night. You could hear the helmets and the shoulder pads and those younger guys were like ooh and ahh.”

Yates gives Bowen credit. Iron sharpens iron as the old saying goes.

“I think he was the one that helped me out a lot,” Yates said.

In reflecting on Haysi’s dream season, Yates also pointed out the bond he had with defensive coordinator Jason Edwards and the ability of teammates like Tanner O’Quinn.

This guy is no glory hog. 4) Natural Instincts: When

Yates began playing organized football in the fourth grade he was a middle linebacker. You could say it comes naturally to the defender from Dickenson County.

“It just seems like to me I have a better instinct to the ball, knowing where it’s at,” Yates said. “I don’t know, I’m more comfortable [playing defense]. I know what I’m doing.”

5) Having Fun: Beyond all else, football is Yates’ passion and something he thoroughly enjoys.

“He’s fun-loving,” Owens said. “He just has a great time at anything he does. He’s always smiling. I can never recall a time when I haven’t seen the kid hav-ing fun at what he’s doing and smiling while doing it.”

Yates isn’t some cold-blooded, malicious gridiron mercenary though. One of the nicest kids you will meet is a familiar refrain from all those that know him.

“One thing I like about Tristan in practice is he takes it easy on the young kids,” Colley said. “Just because a guy’s a fresh-man and not very big, Tristan’s not going to kill him. He takes it easy.

“But if it comes up to a time that another one of the guys gets the ball, then that guy is going to get hit.”

And that’s nothing to sleep on. thayes@bristolnews.com |

Twitter:@Hayes_BHCSports | (276) 645-2570

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