Tony Slater owns quite a sticker collection.
He doesn’t keep them protected in plastic. Instead, they blanket the senior’s scratched and scraped football helmet. They tell you what kind of a player he is. Each sticker represents one of the many positive things Slater did this season on the field for the Archbishop Murphy High School football team. He collected more decals than any other Wildcat.
As evidence of his contribution at defensive tackle, Slater’s helmet is a smorgasbord of hatchets (tackle for loss), bees (swarming group tackle) and snakes (fumble recovery). Slater helped lead Murphy’s stifling run defense this season, and he is The Herald’s All-Area Football Defensive Player of the Year.
With the 5-foot-10, 245-pound Slater providing muscle at the line of scrimmage, the Wildcats limited their first 13 opponents to an average of 7.8 points per game. Murphy extended its winning streak to 39 games before losing 41-35 in double overtime against East Valley in the Class 2A state semifinals.
Slater also played offensive guard he earned plenty of stickers there, too but defense holds a special place in his heart. “I like defense better,” he said. “You play with a mentality where you just really want to take people’s heads off.”
It’s not about running into the ball carrier, Slater explained. It’s about running right through him.
Slater said one of his best defensive games was a first-round playoff victory against Port Townsend. He made some big tackles to help the Wildcats surge to a fast start en route to a 41-8 triumph. Unfortunately, Slater can’t remember much of it. He suffered a concussion following a collision in the first half. He kept playing and no one knew about it until after the game.
Slater also performed well in a 21-6 victory over Cascade Conference challenger Lakewood.
Archbishop Murphy coach Terry Ennis said Slater’s strength was consistently performing at a high level each week. That’s remarkable considering Slater didn’t play defense last year. “He was dying to play defense,” Ennis said. “I told him he had to work hard to do it. With that carrot out there, he did just that.”
Slater’s intensity helped him maximize his talent. “He’s playing hard from beginning to end,” Ennis said, “and not only tries to do his job but tries to do it very, very well. You can tell he has a great deal of pride in doing it to the best of his ability.”
Slater hopes to play college football. His size is best suited for defensive tackle, Ennis said. “I think he definitely will play at the next level. It’s about finding the right fit.”
At Archbishop Murphy, Slater fit in well. He got to play a game he loves with friends he looked forward to being with practice after practice, game after game.
“It’s probably the best experience I’ve ever had in high school,” Slater said. “I’m sure there will be teams that are better than us but we were really close.”
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