Vote: Who should be SBLive's North Central Florida football defensive player of the week (10/16/2023)?

We’ve selected nine candidates to choose from this past week’s games

High school football is back in the Sunshine State and so begins our Player of the Week polls for areas all around the state. Teams started off the regular season with some great individual performances in Week 8.

As such, we have nine athletes nominated this week for the SBLive’s North Central Florida Defensive Football Player of the Week award from October 12-13, and we ask you, the fans, to help decide who should indeed be the top athlete selected. Voting will conclude on Saturday, October 21st at 11:59 p.m. The winner will be announced in next week's poll.

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Congratulations to last week’s winner: Devin Johnson, DB, P.K. Yonge 

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Here are the nominations: 

Conrad Bloom, LB, Ocala Christian: The linebacker churned out seven tackles and two sacks in the Crusaders’ 70-18 win over Liberty Christian. 

Cole Logan, LB, The Villages: Logan was the Buffaloes’ top tackler, notching 10 tackles and three going for a loss in The Villages’ 17-8 win over Mount Dora. 

Markus Lewis, DT, P.K. Yonge: The defensive tackle tallied three sacks in the Blue Wave’s 20-8 loss to Oak Hall. 

Curtis Whitfield, DL, Palatka: The Panthers’ defensive lineman tallied 11 tackles and two sacks in the team’s 41-21 win over Keystone Heights. 

Jon Furst, LB, Trenton: The linebacker had six tackles, three for a loss and two sacks in a 40-0 win over Bronson. 

Jake Mandahl, DB, South Sumter: The defensive back notched six tackles, one for a loss and a sack in the Raiders’ 63-6 win over Hernando. 

Dylan Donahue, LB, Dunnellon: The linebacker had four tackles and two went for a loss in the Tigers’ 42-0 defeat of Crystal River. 

Naziy Gent, LB, Hawthorne: The middle linebacker compiled 12 tackles and three going for a loss in the Hornets’ 28-0 win over Union County. 

Jason McDaniel, LB, Madison County: McDaniel tallied 10 tackles and two going for a loss in the Cowboys 38-13 victory over Suwannee. 

-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @sblivefl