The PTP pick
DL Justice Williams, Sr., Seffner Christian
As an interior linemen, Justice Williams has to go through a lot of traffic to reach the backfield.
Opposing blockers try to build a wall to keep the 6-foot-3, 310 rusher away from their quarterback.
The result was just 3.5 sacks in his first six games this season.
Last week, Williams kept applying the pressure.
This time, he did not just hurry throws. Williams wrapped up the quarterback, repeatedly.
He finished with 2.5 sacks, forced two fumbles and returned one for a touchdown. Williams even recorded a safety.
Those numbers helped the Crusaders to a win over Carrollwood Day in the regular season finale and get some much-needed momentum heading into the playoffs.
The fans’ pick
LB Troy Bowles, So., Jesuit
Troy Bowles knows all about the importance of creating turnovers — and scoring off them.
After all, his father is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator.
Bowles has been making those impactful plays quite often.
Two weeks ago, he scooped up a fumble and returned it for a touchdown in a rout over Gibbs.
This past week, Bowles made them in a variety of ways.
He pounced on a blocked punt and returned it for a score. And on the final play of the first half, he picked off a pass for the first time this season.
That helped set the tone as the Tigers beat rival Tampa Catholic 35-21 to extend their win streak to 21 in the series.
Fans thought highly of Bowles’ performance. He received more than 77 percent of the votes (7,151) to beat out Seffner Christian’s Justice Williams, who had more than 15 percent of the votes (1,436).
