Here is your 2022 Centre Daily Times football defensive All-Centre team
The Centre Daily Times has awarded offensive standouts with All-Centre honors. Now, the defensive players will be awarded for their play.
We asked coaches from each Centre County school district with Mid-Penn and All-Mountain awards (Bald Eagle, Penns Valley and State College) to nominate players. Although players from Bellefonte and Philipsburg-Osceola were not selected for Mountain League awards, their statistics were considered in developing this list.
From the coaches’ nominations, statistics were the main driver in creating the full teams.
Fourteen players were selected to the first team and two players were named defensive player of the year. Among first-team players are four linebackers, two defensive linemen, two defensive ends, two cornerbacks, two safeties, a punter and a punt returner.
Here are the CDT’s All-Centre Football defensive teams for the 2022 season:
Defensive Player of the Year
Stephen Scourtis, State College senior, defensive end
The Harvard commit was everywhere for the 13-1 State College Little Lions during the 2022 season. He had 105 total tackles (49 solo), a whopping 24.5 tackles for loss, a team-high nine sacks and 28 quarterback hurries, along with a pass deflected and three forced fumbles.
Scourtis acknowledged the contributions that his teammates made throughout the season to win the award.
“It’s definitely not just me that represents that award because we have so many guys from the defense especially as a defensive-oriented award,” Scourtis said. “There are so many players and my teammates that helped me get in that position on the defensive line alone ... our defensive line group as a whole dominated every single game and work hard to put the QB in tough spots that allowed me to get a tackle in the backfield or vice versa. With J-Dub (JW Scott), Sam (Mayer) or Justin (Castro).”
The senior played four years of varsity football and made an impact in every season. Scourtis played through injuries, toughed out finishing his schoolwork in flying colors and earned himself acceptance to Harvard. Set to take his talents to Cambridge, Mass., the senior will be missed by his former head coach Matt Lintal at State College.
“Stephen is an irreplaceable asset,” Lintal said. “He’s one of those kids that you get only once every so often and the nicest kid in the world. He’s got a 4.5 GPA, brilliant kid, but he plays with passion and heart — a tremendous leader, selfless in every aspect. He’s such a role model for our younger players, our current players, our future players — he’s just one of those kids that makes everyone around him better.”
First team
Michael Gaul, State College sophomore, linebacker
In only his second season of high school football, Gaul led a 13-1 State College team with 122 total tackles (83 solo). He had 10 tackles for loss, one sack, three quarterback hurries, four passes deflected, one fumble recovery and two forced fumbles.
Tre Greene, Bald Eagle senior, linebacker
Greene had an even stronger defensive season than his offensive performance in 2022. He had 100 total tackles (69 solo), 11.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, two interceptions, three fumble recoveries and one returned for a touchdown, along with two forced fumbles.
Caleb Confer, Penns Valley junior, linebacker
Confer led his team in tackles with 97 total (36 solo) and had two tackles for loss. The junior added in a sack, an interception, a pass deflection and a fumble recovery to his stat sheet this year.
Will Stone, State College senior, linebacker
Stone packed a punch from the outside linebacker position for the Little Lions. He finished the season with 67 total tackles (49 solo), eight tackles for loss, one sack, two interceptions, four pass deflections and one forced fumble.
JW Scott, State College senior, defensive end
Scott, along with Scourtis, was the heart and soul of State College’s defense. He’s a vocal leader and he always liked to help his teammates get set in the correct places for defensive stops. The senior leader had 105 total tackles (65 solo), 21 tackles for loss, seven sacks, seven quarterback hurries, an interception, three pass deflections, one fumble recovery and two forced fumbles.
Cam Watkins, Bald Eagle junior, defensive end
Watkins continued to carve out a name for himself at Bald Eagle as a junior. He completed the year with 48 total tackles (41 solo), 22 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, six quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Justin Castro, State College junior, defensive lineman
Castro stuffs the run and punishes quarterbacks on the pass rush. That was no more evident than in 2022, when he put up 56 total tackles (22 solo), 6.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and two quarterback hurries.
Gavin Ryan, Penns Valley senior, defensive lineman
Ryan isn’t the heaviest or tallest of defensive linemen, but he played like he was during the 2022 season. The senior had 62 total tackles (29 solo), 6.5 sacks and two pass deflections.
Ty Salazer, State College sophomore, cornerback
Three-fourths of CDT’s All-Centre defensive backfield includes State College players and two of them are sophomores. The first of the trio is Salazer at cornerback. He had 57 total tackles (42 solo), two tackles for loss, one sack, he was tied for a county-high in interceptions with six and had two pass deflections.
Donte Nastasi, State College senior, cornerback
On the other side of the field for State College was Nastasi. The senior corner played his position with efficiency and smoothness, picking up 19 total tackles (15 solo), one interception, three passes deflected and one forced fumble.
Mike Snyder, Bald Eagle senior, safety
Snyder capped off his senior season with 42 total tackles (31 solo), 5.5 tackles for loss and tied for a county-high of six interceptions. His best game came at home against Bellwood-Antis on Nov. 4, where he had three interceptions for 67 return yards and four tackles (three solo).
Cooper Brushwood, State College sophomore, safety
Brushwood was already a lacrosse star in the making. He can add football star to his accolades as well for his accomplishments as a sophomore. He was fourth on the team with 69 total tackles (50 solo), he had four interceptions and four pass deflections.
Ian Brandt, State College senior, punter
Brandt had kickoff and punting duties for State College this season. He had 62 kickoffs for 3,341 yards and 18 touchbacks. As a punter, he had 40 punts for 1,489 yards (37.2 yards per punt) with his longest punt tracking 64 yards. He additionally pinned teams within the 20-yard line eight times.
Gavin Eckley, Bald Eagle senior, punt returner/defensive back
Eckley provided a punch as a punt returner, often putting his team into strong field position. As a safety, Eckley had two interceptions, a forced fumble, 60 total tackles (39 solo) and five tackles for loss.
Second team
Kollin Brungart, Penns Valley senior, linebacker
Eli Epinoza, State College junior, linebacker
Josh Lieb, Penns Valley junior, linebacker
Wyatt Spackman, Bald Eagle sophomore, linebacker
Matt Johnson, Philipsburg-Osceola junior, defensive end
Eric Clark, Bald Eagle junior, defensive lineman
Alexander Lefebvre, Bald Eagle junior, defensive lineman
Sam Mayer, State College sophomore, defensive lineman
Danin Kerstetter, Penns Valley junior, cornerback
John Meyer, Penns Valley junior, cornerback
Gavin Eckley, Bald Eagle senior, safety
Owen Yerka, State College junior, safety
Jackson Romig, Penns Valley junior, punter
Ty Salazer, State College sophomore, punt returner
Honorable Mention
Jarrett Stover, Penns Valley junior, linebacker
Dalton Barger, Philipsburg-Osceola junior, linebacker
Kieran Jodon, Bald Eagle senior, defensive lineman
Sam McDonald, Philipsburg-Osceola sophomore, defensive back
Trevor Johnson, Bellefonte junior, safety
Brandon Hahn, Philipsburg-Osceola junior, punter
Miles Brooks, Penns Valley senior, punt returner
