Defensive Player of the Week: Zach Villarreal

Published 8:37 pm Monday, October 7, 2019

In two straight district games, Zach Villarreal has come up big from his middle linebacker position for the Gladewater Bears.

The two District 8-3A Division I contests were closely contested with the Bears winning 16-12 over Winnsboro on Sept. 27 in Gladewater and 22-19 over West Rusk on Oct. 4 in New London.

Villarreal had 13 tackles and an interception in the victory over the Raiders at Bruce Bradshaw Stadium.

For his performance, Villarreal, a 5-11 senior, has been named the Peltier Kia Tyler Defensive Player of the Week for the sixth 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), Robert E. Lee senior defensive end/linebacker Jamal Ligon (Week 4) and John Tyler junior free safety Travion Ates (Week 5).

Fans can watch the Bears and Villarreal on Friday night when Gladewater (4-2, 2-0) meets district opponent Mineola (2-3, 0-1) at Jack V. Murphy-Bear Stadium in Gladewater. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

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