Defensive Player of the Week: Travion Ates

Published 6:38 pm Monday, September 30, 2019

All season, Travion Ates has turned in great defensive performances for John Tyler.

On Friday, it might have been his best as Ates had 16 tackles (9 solo) and an interception in helping the Lions open District 7-5A Division I football play with a 16-0 blanking of Texarkana Texas High in Tyler.

For his performance, Ates, a 6-0 junior free safety, has been named the Peltier Kia Tyler Defensive Player of the Week for the fifth week of the high school football season.

He will be featured on a poster, sponsored by Peltier Kia Tyler, in Friday’s The Zone special section of the Tyler Morning Telegraph.

Previous winners were Chapel Hill senior linebacker Adrian Lacy (Week 1), Troup senior linebacker Max Hale (Week 2), Grand Saline senior linebacker Bryce Smith (Week 3) and Robert E. Lee senior defensive end/linebacker Jamal Ligon (Week 4).

On the season, Ates is the Lions’ leading tackler with 55, an average of 11 per game. He has two tackles for loss and two fumble recoveries.

The Lions (1-4, 1-0) play their first road game on Friday, traveling to Wylie to meet the Wylie East Raiders (2-3, 0-1). Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Wylie Stadium, FM 544 at Country Club Road, Wylie, 75098.

To nominate someone for the Peltier Kia Tyler Defensive Player of the Week, email sports@tylerpaper.com by 5 p.m. Sunday.