CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Defensive football coaches will swear by the belief that it’s a bad sign for a safety to be a team’s leading tackler.
Logically, if a player on the third tier of a defense is getting the most stops, it only makes sense that offenses are putting up big yards.
That logic doesn’t apply to the Bradley Central High School defense. While head coach Damon Floyd and defensive coordinator Brad Benefield agree it’s not ideal for a safety to have more than 100 tackles on the great majority of teams, those teams don’t have a player like Tito Williams roaming the secondary.
Williams, a four-year starter for the top-ranked Bears (13-0) — and a member of the Times Free Press Dynamite Baker’s Dozen as one of the Chattanooga area’s top college prospects entering the season — heads into Friday night’s TSSAA Class 6A semifinal showdown against three-time reigning state champion Murfreesboro Oakland (11-2) with a team-best 118 tackles, including 13.5 for loss.
Needless to say, a typical safety he is not.