John Tyler defensive end Dekalen Goodson (15) faces off against a Rockwall player during the first half Friday at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium in Tyler. Andrew D. Brosig/Tyler Morning Telegraph via AP

John Tyler has produced a number of strong pass rushers over the years, most recently Tyus Bowser and Braylon Jones (both now at Houston), Jassavia Reese (New Mexico State) and Pierre Leonard (Texas A&M-Commerce), to name a few.

None have had the skillset of Dekalen Goodson.

The junior defensive end, who leads the team with seven sacks, relies not on size or strength, but on speed and technique.

“He’s not super big like some of the other guys we’ve had come through here, but he’s faster than a lot of the guys we’ve had come through so he’s kind of his own kind of player right now as far as the John Tyler standard goes,” JT coach Ricklan Holmes said. “He’s ferocious when he comes off the ball using his hands and his quickness.”

Goodson, listed at 6-3, 205 pounds, has garnered interest from schools in the Big 12, SEC, Big 10 and AAC, with Mississippi State and Houston near the top of his list.

He’s made a name for himself as a fearsome pass rusher. Against New Orleans Warren Easton two weeks ago at the Independence Bowl, Goodson had four sacks and four tackles for loss to go with 12 total tackles.

“People say I don’t weight a lot but I can get around you real easy,” said Goodson, who is tied for fourth with 29 tackles.

It was Goodson’s second four-sack game of his career. He also had four in the 41-38 thriller over Lufkin in 2015. His four tackles for loss put him second on the team behind Howard Hawkins’ nine.

“His first step is able to get people on their heels real quick,” Holmes said. “Sometimes it puts linemen into a panic mode to where they get out of their technique and he takes advantage of it.”

As a sophomore on a line than included both Jones and Leonard, Goodson tallied six sacks last year, second most on the team behind Tabias Marshall’s seven.

If Goodson keeps up his current pace, he could match Bowser’s 22 sacks from 2012 if the Lions go two or three rounds deep in the playoffs.

“I’ve gotten better pass rush moves and learned more from my coach and I feel more confident in them than I did last year,” Goodson said.

John Tyler had 25 sacks in 12 games last year. This season the Lions have 18 through four games, averaging more than twice as many per game.

Much of that is from the emergence of Goodson but also from the unit playing well together. Goodson said the defensive line doesn’t play for individual stats for but for the success of the team as a whole.

“It draws a little attention toward him and it takes it away from other people so it frees up a lot of our guys, especially our nose right now because you can see the success of Howard Hawkins and (Kaylon) Douglas are having right now,” Holmes said. “A lot of that has to do with the play of DK at the edge and our other defensive ends.”

Coming off a tough 59-58 loss to Rockwall in the District 11-6A opener, the JT defense will be tested by North Mesquite at Hanby Stadium on Friday.

Fortunately for the Lions, they’ll have Goodson’s speed on their side.

“If you have a guy at the edge that can put pressure on the quarterback and can set the edge for the run, that helps out your defense tremendously because now you know that you’re funneling everything inside and you’re also taking away the timing of the quarterback with his receivers,” Holmes said. “It’s just like any league, especially the NFL, those guys are high commodity just like the high school level.”

TWITTER: @TYoestingETFS

LIONS TALES: Tickets for the John Tyler-North Mesquite game at E.H. Hanby Stadium will be sold on campus to students and faculty Wednesday-Friday. Additional ticket sales will be at the TISD athletic office (807 W. Glenwood), T&T Lewis (903 W. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd) and Tyler Athletics (5520 Old Jacksonville Hwy) during regular business hours Wednesday-Friday. Presale general admission tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students. Gate tickets cost $6 for general admission.

 

John Tyler Stats

Scores

Non-District

John Tyler 45, Plano West 14

John Tyler 30, Ennis 14

John Tyler 41, New Orleans Warren Easton 6

District 11-6A

Rockwall 59, John Tyler 58

Score By Quarters

    1st    2nd    3rd    4th       OT        Tot. 

Opponents    10    23    32    28    0    —    93

JOHN TYLER    33    51    42    48    0    —    174

———

Team Statistics

Scoring

    JT    Opp.

Rushing    66    36

Passing    78    36

PAT    21    8

FG    9    9

Defense/Special Teams    0    0

2 Pt Conversion    0    4

Total    174    93

———

First Downs

    JT     Opp.

Passing    38    30

Rushing    49    36

Penalty    2    6

Total    89    72

——— 

Third Down Conversions

JOHN TYLER    25-50 (50%)

Opponents    24-65 (37%)

Fourth Down Conversions

JOHN TYLER    2-6 (33%)

Opponents    8-16 (50%)

Field Goals Made/Attempted

JOHN TYLER    3-6 (50%) 

Opponents    3-3 (100%) 

PATs Made/Attempted

JOHN TYLER    21-24 (88%)

Opponents    8-9 (89%) 

———

Team Yardage

Rushing

JOHN TYLER    845 (211.3)

Opponents    618 (154.5)

Passing 

JOHN TYLER    1111 (277.8)

Opponents    778 (194.5)

Total Yards

JOHN TYLER     1956 (489.0)

Opponents    1396 (349.0)

Punts-Avg.

JOHN TYLER    12-410 (34.2)

Opponents    21-750 (35.7)

Fumbles-Lost

JOHN TYLER    7-1

Opponents    12-4

Interceptions Thrown

JOHN TYLER    2

Opponents    2

Turnover Ratio

JOHN TYLER    +3

Penalties-Yards

JOHN TYLER    51-404

Opponents    33-271

———

Individual Statistics

Rushing

Player    No.    Yds.    Avg.    TD    Lg.

Bryson Smith    53    481    9.1    5    53

Justin Samples    68    308    4.5    5    15t

Cameron Grant    12    36    3.0    1    8t

Victor Campbell    2    13    6.5    0    10

Kiante Stoker    6    8    1.3    0    7

Devlen Woods    1    5    5.0    0    5

Jaivon Williams    2    3    1.5    0    4

Martrevious Allison    1    0    0.0    0    0

M.Givens-Washington    1    -3    -3.0    0    -3

Team    2    -6    -3.0    0    -3

Total    148    845    5.7    11    25t

Opponents    171    618    3.6    6    79t

———

Passing

Player    Co.    Att.    Yds.    TD    INT    Lg.

Bryson Smith    61    107    1111    13    2    93t

Jaivon Williams    0    3    0    0    0    0

Devlen Woods    0    1    0    0    0    0

Total    61    111    1111    13    2    93t

Opponents    52    105    778    6    2    62

———

Receiving

Player    No.    Yds.    Avg.    TD    Lg.

M.Givens-Washington    18    332    18.4    4    71t

Devlen Woods    15    191    12.7    1    33

Damion Miller    11    354    32.2    4    93t

Ke’Andre Street    10    194    19.4    2    35

KeEric Franklin    3    19    6.3    0    13

Jaivon Williams    2    6    3.0    0    3

Cameron Grant    1    13    13.0    1    13t

Martrevious Allison    1    2.0    2    1    2

Total    61    1111    18.2    13    93t

Opponents    52    778    15.0    6    62

———

Punting

Player    No.    Yds.    Avg.    N20    BK    Lg.

Devan Salazar    6    190    31.7    1    0    42

Frankie Sanchez    6    220    36.7    4    0    49

Total    12    410    34.2    5    0    49

Opponents    21    750    35.7    4    1    56

———

Kicking

Player    XPM/A    FGM/A    TB    Lg.

Devan Salazar    15-18    3-5    3    70

Frankie Sanchez    6-6    0-1    1    70

Totals    21-24    3-6    4    70

Opponents    8-9    3-3    1    65

———

Kickoff Returns

Player    No.    Yds.    Avg.    TD    Lg.

M.Givens-Washington    3    68    22.7    0    29

Kieran Freeman    2    50    25.0    0    28

Devlen Woods    1    38    38.0    0    38

Damion Miller    1    25    25.0    0    25

Cameron Grant    2    14    7.0    0    15

Total    9    195    21.7    0    38

———

Punt Returns

Player    No.    Yds.    Avg.    TD    Lg.

M. Givens-Washington    5    10    20.0    0    55

Total    5    100    20.0    0    55

———

Scoring

Player    TD    FG    PAT    2PT    Tot.

Bryson Smith    5    0    0    0    30

Justin Samples    5    0    0    0    30

Damion Miller    4    0    0    0    24

M.Givens-Washington    4    0    0    0    24

Devan Salazar    0    3    15    0    24

Cameron Grant    2    0    0    0    12

Ke’Andre Street    2    0    0    0    12

Frankie Sanchez    0    0    6    0    6

Devlen Woods    1    0    0    0    6

Martrevious Allison    1    0    0    0    6

Total    24    3    21    0    174

Opponents    12    3    8    2    93

———

Defensive Stats

Fumble Recoveries

Player    No.    TD    

Tabias Marshall    1    0

Howard Hawkins    1    0

Shaundrick Williams    1    0

Dekalen Goodson    1    0

Team    4    0

———

Interceptions

Player    No.    TD

Martrevious Allison    1    0

Kieran Freeman    1    0

Total    2    0

———

Sacks

Player    No.

Dekalen Goodson    7.0

Howard Hawkins    5.0

Dewayne Jones    2.0

Kaylon Douglas    1.0

Gregorio Guerrero    1.0

Martrevious Allison    1.0

Shaundrick Williams    1.0

Total    18.0

———

Blocked Punts

Player    No.

Da’Quaylon Kennedy    1

Total    1

———

Individual Stats

Player    QBP    PBU    FF    TFL    SOL    TOT

Martrevious Allison    0    2    0    0    11    36

Tyus Grayson    0    1    0    0    8    36

Howard Hawkins    5    0    0    9    14    32

Shaundrick Williams    0    0    0    0    4    29

Dekalen Goodson    2    1    1    4    17    29

Da’Qualyon Kennedy    0    2    0    0    10    28

Kieran Freeman    0    7    0    0    13    22

Clark Edwards    0    1    0    0    8    20

Dewayne Jones    0    0    0    0    7    20

Javontavius Mosley    0    5    1    1    14    17

Tabias Marshall    1    0    0    0    7    10

Kelton McGee    0    0    1    1    2    9

Gregorio Guerrero    0    0    0    0    6    7

Kaylon Douglas    4    0    0    1    2    6

Kiante Stoker    0    0    0    0    3    6

Nicholas Thompson    0    1    0    0    3    5

LaMarcus McCowin    0    0    0    0    1    4

KeEric Franklin    0    0    0    0    3    3

Keyon Washington    0    0    0    0    0    2

James Chevis    0    0    0    0    0    2

Jerry Young    0    0    0    0    1    2

Ke’Andre Street    0    0    0    0    2    2

Justin Samples    0    0    0    0    1    1

M.Givens-Washington    0    0    0    0    1    1

Jarod Buffin    0    0    0    0    1    1

JaTayviun Asbell    0    0    0    0    0    1

Cameron Grant    0    0    0    0    1    1

Hakeem Williams    3    0    0    0    0    1

Totals    15    20    3    16    140    333