Marty Gordon
NRVsports@ourvalley.org
The 2025 all-county/all-city defensive player of the year is Doug Howard of Blacksburg, who dominated opponents this season.
He finished with 75.5 tackles, with 46 being solo and 59 assisted. He also had four tackles for loss.
Howard led the all-county/all-city unit from his defensive back position, but there were four other very capable players at the same position. He was joined by Izaiah Cotto of Christiansburg, Pace Prioleau of Radford, Nate Means of Blacksburg and Ethan Brunk of Auburn.
Cotto tallied 54 tackles and five interceptions for the 2025 season. Prioleau had 99 tackles with four for loss, two interceptions and one forced fumble. Means was second team all-district defensive all-purpose. Brunk had 71 tackles this season with three sacks and two interceptions. He also recorded seven pass breakups.
This year’s linebacker corps would tough be tough for any opponent to run on. Auburn’s Isayah Hamann leads a group that includes Brady Ankum of Blacksburg, Colt Howell of Christiansburg, Marshall Tate of Eastern Montgomery and Cole Martin of Radford.
Hamann had 87 tackles with three sacks and two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
The sophomore Howell finished the season with 81 tackles, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and two pass breakups. Ankum had 57 total tackles with 70 assisted and two forced fumbles. Tate was a second team all-purpose defensive player in the Pioneer District. Martin, who could have easily been the defensive player of the year, finished with 142 tackles with 23 for loss along with four sacks.
The defensive front has a large group to roll out on the field this year. The all-county/all-city includes Lyrik Brown and Mitchell Linkous of Blacksburg, Reece Honaker and Brandon Wray of Radford, Damon Wood of Eastern Montgomery and Drew Smith of Christiansburg.
Brown had 29.5 tackles with 28 assisted and two for loss, while Linkous tallied 30.5 with two forced fumbles.
At 6-4, 257-lbs., Honaker dominated offensive opponents, finishing with 47 tackles and nine for loss. The 6-1, 204-lb. Wray had 42 tackles with two sacks and two for loss.
Wood was second-team all-Pioneer this season.
Smith finished with 35.5 tackles, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, one sack and a blocked kick.
The defensive specialist of the year is James King of Auburn, who had 61 tackles with five interceptions, two returned for scores.
The all-purpose defensive player of the year is Gavin Neuse of Auburn, who had 105 tackles and a sack from his linebacker position.
Radford Pace Prioleau rounded out the defensive squad as punt returner. He returned 21 punts for a 11.62 average with a touchdown.
