St. Joseph’s Jake Rios Voted High School on SI’s Top Defensive Back in Connecticut

Rios will be a junior for the Cadets this season

Jake Rios competes for the St. Joseph varsity football team last season. | Bill Berg

Jake Rios, a senior at St. Joseph High School, has been voted High School on SI’s top defensive back in Connecticut heading into the 2025 season.

Rios received 70.13% of the votes to take the top spot. Final poll results can be viewed here.

In 2024, Rios racked up 76 tackles, two interceptions, two pass deflections, a fumble recovery and caused two fumbles for the state champion Cadets last year. As a receiver, he had 35 catches for 487 yards and five touchdowns.

St. Joseph went 10-3 last season. The team opens its 2025 campaign against Notre Dame on Thursday (Sept. 4).

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Published Sep 3, 2025

KEVIN L. SMITH

Kevin L. Smith, a Rochester (NY) native and a graduate of St. Bonaventure University, has been covering high school sports for over a decade. He started out as a freelance sportswriter in 2013. Since then, he’s held sportswriter and editor positions for newspapers in Coudersport (PA), Sayre (PA) and Oswego (NY). Smith currently covers high school sports in the Greater Syracuse Area for syracuse.com | Post-Standard, a position he’s held since 2021. You can follow him on social media @KevLSmittie. Story ideas can be sent to KLSFreelancing@outlook.com.

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