Meet the 2022 All-Livingston County football defense
Vincent Cox
► School: Hartland
► Class: Senior
► Position: Defensive lineman
► Accomplishments: Cox was a two-way starter for Hartland after starting only on the offensive line his first two varsity seasons. He was second in the county in tackles among defensive linemen with 61 and shared the lead with 13 tackles for losses and four sacks.
► Coach Brian Savage: “He was a force on the defensive side. He was able to go both ways as a lineman. Especially on defense with our linemen, we ask them to do a lot of bending and chasing. They’re pretty active and move around a lot. He was a tremendous defensive lineman. A lot of that is attributed to his wrestling skills.”
Luke Dibert
► School: Hartland
► Class: Senior
► Position: Defensive lineman
► Accomplishments: Dibert had 64 tackles, tops among defensive linemen in Livingston County. Six of his tackles were for losses and three were sacks.
► Coach Brian Savage: “Luke has good size to him. He’s got a high motor. He goes fast and plays hard. He doesn’t really have a slow gear. Everything is high speed with Luke. He’s one of our stronger kids in the weight room. He really bulked up in the last year or two and used his size and speed to make it tough on offensive linemen.”
Bobby Kanka
► School: Howell
► Class: Sophomore
► Position: Defensive lineman
► Accomplishments: The highly recruited Kanka shared the Livingston County lead with four sacks, despite missing the final three games with an injury. He had 36 tackles, seven for losses and forced two fumbles.
► Coach Brian Lewis: “Obviously, he’s a big athlete. He’s a guy who was able to not only be destructive in the run game, but we were able to drop him and allow him to play in some space. He’s good at taking on blocks, a guy who could control the line of scrimmage. Other than that, he’s a great kid, a great person, a really hard worker who is really diligent at his craft.”
Nick Thalacker
► School: Brighton
► Class: Senior
► Position: Defensive lineman
► Accomplishments: Thalacker made one of the biggest plays of Brighton’s season when he blocked a potential game-tying 29-yard field goal with 26 seconds left in a 17-14 victory over Northville. He made all-region and the Legacy All-Star Game after making 23 tackles, seven for losses and two sacks. He also played offensive guard.
► Coach Brian Lemons: “Nick was the guy on our team who really brought the nasty with him every day. From a defensive standpoint, he was a kid who always brought the disruption to the other offense. He was a very valuable weapon for us. He did a great job on the offensive line, as well.”
Griffin Bell
► School: Brighton
► Class: Senior
► Position: Linebacker
► Accomplishments: Bell returned from a torn anterior cruciate ligament to have a huge senior season. He had 65 tackles, nine tackles for losses and three sacks. Bell was an academic all-state selection.
► Coach Brian Lemons: “Griffin had a very underrated senior season. He was under most people’s radar. He really played well and executed our defense well. He took care of business on the inside.”
Hunter Harding
► School: Brighton
► Class: Senior
► Position: Linebacker
► Accomplishments: Harding has been an all-region and first-team all-county selection the last two seasons. He led the Bulldogs with 90 tackles as a junior and 98 as a senior. Harding had 12 tackles for losses and four sacks.
► Coach Brian Lemons: “Hunter is a terrific example of a kid who puts in a lot of time and effort into what he does. He led our group by being so strong.”
Chase Kern
► School: Hartland
► Class: Senior
► Position: Linebacker
► Accomplishments: Kern was the leading tackler in Livingston County each of the past two seasons, finishing with 140 this season and a school-record 315 for his three-year career. He shared the county lead with 13 tackles for losses. Kern has made all-region and first-team all-county each of the past two seasons.
► Coach Brian Savage: “He’s an old-school linebacker, not real fancy. He’s just always around the ball. He’s another great wrestler. The correlation between wrestling and football really shows in a player like Chase, how he’s able to evade blockers and make tackles.”
Carter Kraft
► School: Howell
► Class: Senior
► Position: Linebacker
► Accomplishments: Kraft made the all-region team after finishing second in Livingston County with 106 tackles. He led the Highlanders with 57 tackles as a junior, earning second-team all-county.
► Coach Brian Lewis: “He’s as tough as they come, a guy that loves football. You can tell he loves football. That’s what we want in Howell linebackers, guys that live and breathe football. He’s a tough physical player who would stick his face into contact, no problem. He did a really good job securing tackles in the box as well as space.”
Mitchell Cavanaugh
► School: Hartland
► Class: Senior
► Position: Defensive back
► Accomplishments: Cavanaugh was a hybrid defender who played outside linebacker and safety, showing the ability to come up and stop the run as well as defend the pass. He was fourth in the county with 73 tackles and 10 tackles for losses, tying for first with two interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown.
► Coach Brian Savage: “He’s a kid who knows football. He just seems to always be doing his job. When he’s able to do that, he’s able to use his athletic ability to make plays. He was injured his entire junior year until the very end. It’s great to see him have the season he did after suffering through that junior season.”
John Lovich
► School: Howell
► Class: Senior
► Position: Defensive back
► Accomplishments: Lovich was named all-region and first-team all-county as a junior and senior. He was Howell’s second-leading tackler each of the last two seasons, making 56 stops this season after making 55 in 2021. He had one interception. Lovich made academic all-state.
► Coach Brian Lewis: “He’s a fast, solid tackler with good ball skills, but most of all he was just a great leader as far as getting guys lined up and communicating and being able to relay the defense. He would come over to the sideline and talk through adjustments. It’s very rare you get a kid who can see the game move slow enough to come over and suggest things.”
Andrew Stewart
► School: Brighton
► Class: Senior
► Position: Defensive back
► Accomplishments: Stewart, who played safety, is a repeat first-team all-county selection. He had 49 tackles and a fumble recovery this season after adding 25 pounds of muscle. He made 39 tackles and picked off two passes as a junior.
► Coach Brian Lemons: “He spent a lot of time getting ready for his senior year, getting his body in the right shape and building it strength wise. He’s got a couple offers, D2 offers as well. He might have the potential to play as high as the MAC if things settle out in the winter.”
Ryan Velarde
► School: Brighton
► Class: Senior
► Position: Defensive back
► Accomplishments: Velarde played much larger than his 5-foot-8, 160-pound frame, making 68 tackles, including seven for losses, from his cornerback position. He picked off one pass, broke up six passes and recovered a fumble.
► Coach Brian Lemons: “He was a very physical kid who really did a good job playing that run corner. He may be the strongest kid in our school or program pound for pound. He had that speed and strength.”
Grant Hetherton
► School: Brighton
► Class: Junior
► Position: Punter
► Accomplishments: Hetherton, who also had two starts at quarterback, was an effective rugby-style kicker. He led the county with an average of 39.7 yards per punt, putting five inside the 20-yard line and not allowing a return.
► Coach Brian Lemons: “Grant had a special knack for getting that ball off, making the coverage even better by being able to hold on to it a little bit longer. He had a special talent for it. He’s a super athletic kid.”
SECOND TEAM
DL, Josh Elsey, Hartland, Sr.
DL, Preston Goff, Howell, Sr.
DL, Kyle Sica, Brighton, Sr.
DL, Jaxson Wilson, Hartland, Sr.
LB, Luke Frisinger, Brighton, Sr.
LB, Ethan Loebig, Howell, Sr.
LB, Jacob Ross, Hartland, Jr.
LB, Adam Wisner, Pinckney, Sr.
DB, Jack Gregorich, Brighton, Sr.
DB, Jadin Miller, Pinckney, Jr.
DB, Caleb Shermoe, Fowlerville, Sr.
DB, Will Shrader, Fowlerville, Soph.
P, Nolan Cuellar, Howell, Sr.
HONORABLE MENTION
Brighton: Evan Blake-Thomas (Sr.), Braeden Chiles (Jr.). Fowlerville: Jaydn Devota (Jr.), Jacob Esch (Jr.), Dylan Grossutti (Sr.). Hartland: Sam Clay (Sr.), Jakob Fisher (Sr.), Jack Sargeant (Sr.). Howell: Ben Brown (Jr.), Tyler Christensen (Sr.), Ethan Kreider (Jr.), Jack Leslie (Sr.), Logan Porter (Sr.). Pinckney: Cain Barth (Jr.), Matt Shepley (Sr.).
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Meet the 2022 All-Livingston County football defense
