Vote: North Central Florida high school football defensive player of the week (11/14/2023)

The Florida High School Football Playoffs have begun and we continue our Player of the Week polls for areas all around the state. Teams started off the regular season with some great individual performances in the region quarterfinals.

As such, we have nine athletes nominated this week for the SBLive’s North Central Florida high school football defensive player of the week award from November 9-10, and we ask you, the fans, to help decide who should indeed be the top athlete selected. Voting will conclude on Saturday, November 18th at 11:59 p.m. The winner will be announced in next week's poll.

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Here are this week's nominations:

Austin Malaguti, DB, Branford: The defensive made a team-high 13 tackles in Branford's 40-2 loss to Lafayette.

Trenton Klein, LB, Union County: Klein made it on both lists this week with his performances on both sides of the ball in a 58-8 rout of Hilliard. Klein notched five tackles, three for loss and two sacks.

Gavin Jenkins, DB, Union County: The defensive back intercepted two passes in the Fightin' Tigers win over Hilliard.

Jake Mandahl, LB, South Sumter: Leading the way in tackles was Mandahl on the night as the linebacker made a team-high 10 and two went for a loss.

Malakhi Boone, LB, South Sumter: Boone made eight tackles, three for loss and two sacks in the win over Nature Coast.

Elias Lobato, LB, Dunnellon: The 5-foot-9, 190-pound linebacker led the Tigers with a team-high 12 tackles in a 28-6 win over Hudson.

Daniel Richeson, DL, Dunnellon: The senior defensive lineman made five tackles and three went for a loss, which led the team.

Wyatt Hester, LB, Newberry: Last week's winner is back on the list after another stellar performance. Hester made a team-high 13 tackles in the Panthers' 49-16 win over Chiefland.

Lawrence Rivers, LB, Chiefland: Rivers led the Chiefs with a team-high 10 tackles, two for a loss and a sack.

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