ROLLA, Mo. – With the 2019-20 athletic season completed, we want to take a look back at the past decade and determine the all-decade teams for the Miner squads during the course of the 2010s.  Today's installment in this series will look at the top football performers on the defensive side of the ball over the last decade, along with the top kick returner.

Individuals listed are placed at one individual position.
 

	Defensive Tackle: Joe Boettcher (2017-19) – After transferring into the S&T program from Missouri Western, Boettcher became an anchor on the interior line as a top run stopper and interior pass rusher.  During his three seasons, he recorded 104 total tackles that included 17.5 for a loss and had 8.5 quarterback sacks along the way.  Boettcher earned All-Great Lakes Valley Conference honors in all three seasons as a Miner, including first-team laurels following the 2018 campaign.
	Defensive Tackle: Josip Juric (2010-15) -- Juric was a solid presence on the Miners' interior line during the first half of the decade, recording 101 total tackles, 18.5 tackles for a loss and 11 quarterback sacks.  He earned first-team All-GLVC honors in 2015 following a season with 8.5 tackles for a loss and seven sacks.  Juric earned all-conference honors in all four of his seasons as a Miner, being named to the All-Great Lakes Football Conference team in 2011 prior to landing three All-GLVC awards after that campaign.
	Defensive Tackle: Eddie Rascon (2011-13) – Rascon earned two All-GLVC awards during his career, including being named to the inaugural squad in 2012 as a first-team selection when he racked up 11 sacks and 14.5 tackles for a loss among his 44 tackles.  Rascon finished his Miner career with 18.5 sacks – tied for fifth-most all-time at S&T – and 24 tackles for a loss and earned All-America honors following the 2012 campaign.
	Defensive End: Daleroy Davey (2012-14) – Davey put up big numbers as an edge rusher for the Miners, racking up 29.5 tackles for lost yardage and 18.5 quarterback sacks during his career.  He had 13 of those sacks among 19 stops behind the line of scrimmage during the 2014 season, when he landed first-team All-GLVC honors.  Davey finished his Miner career ranked in a tie for fifth in career sacks.
	Defensive End: Freddy Dugard (2010-14) -- During his four seasons on the field for the Miners, Dugard racked up the second-highest number of quarterback sacks with 22.5 for 157 yards in losses, while compiling a total of 35 tackles for a loss during that time.  Dugard's best season came in S&T's 10-1 campaign in 2012, when he recorded 14 tackles for a loss among his 45 tackles and also forced two fumbles, helping him earn second-team All-GLVC honors in the league's first season of play; he was also named to the All-GLFC team in 2011.
	Defensive End: Tershawn Wharton (University City, MO/University City) (2016-19) – One of the most dominant defensive linemen in Miner history, Wharton became a standard bearer for production along the defensive line.  Playing primarily as a defensive end, he set the S&T career records for tackles for a loss with 58 and quarterback sacks with 35.5 as he was named to three All-GLVC teams.  Wharton set a school record in 2017 with 13.5 sacks and 21 tackles for a loss and a year later, was named as the most outstanding defensive player in the Miners' victory in the Mineral Water Bowl.  Wharton, an All-America selection following the 2018 season, signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs after the 2020 National Football League draft.
	Linebacker: Landon Compton (2015-18) – Compton was the leading tackler for the Miners during the decade with a total of 359 stops – over 50 more than the next-closest on the list – and established an S&T career record with 50.5 tackles for a loss (record was broken last season by Tershawn Wharton (University City, MO/University City)).   He recorded at least 78 tackles in each of his four seasons at S&T, led by 104-tackle mark in 2018 when he earned first-team All-GLVC honors.   He was a four-time All-GLVC selection at the linebacker position.
	Linebacker: Chris Emesih (2010-13) – Emesih was the first Miner to earn a GLVC Player of the Year award as he was named as the league's top defensive player after the 2013 when he posted the second 100-tackle season of his career.  His 305 tackles in the decade were the second-most by a Miner and he had 16 of those stops for a loss while playing in the middle of the linebacker corps.  Emesih earned three all-conference awards at S&T, one in the Great Lakes Football Conference and two in the first two seasons of GLVC competition as well as All-America laurels in 2013.
	Linebacker: Austin Truvillion (2014-17) – Truvillion blossomed at the linebacker position at S&T, where he earned two All-GLVC awards during his career.  He recorded at least 76 tackles in each of his final three seasons and reached double figures in tackles for a loss in two of them, topped by his 12.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage in 2016.  Truvillion also recorded 10 quarterback sacks in his career as he finished as the team's fourth-leading tackler during the decade.
	Cornerback: Will Brown (2010-14) – Brown was an All-America performer at the cornerback position for the Miners, where he finished with nine interceptions and 112 total tackles.  He picked off a GLVC-high seven passes in 2014 and led the conference with 18 passes defended; both totals ranked among the top 11 in NCAA Division II that season.  Brown, who spent the 2015 pre-season in the Tennessee Titans' camp, was named twice to the All-GLVC first team.
	Cornerback: Roderick Chapman (2017-18) – Chapman joined the Miners after two seasons at LA Harbor College and proceeded to earn All-GLVC honors in both seasons at S&T and All-America honors following the 2018 campaign.  He made 11 interceptions during his career – five in 2017 and six in 2018, including three in one game and two in the Mineral Water Bowl – and had 40 passes defended during those two seasons.  Chapman was also an outstanding kick returner, averaging 24.6 yards per kickoff return and 13.9 on punt runbacks while also posting three kick returns for touchdowns.
	Safety: Ryan Kirkendall (Silsbee, TX/Silsbee) (2016-19) – Kirkendall policed the Miner secondary throughout his four seasons as he earned a pair of All-GLVC awards for his efforts.  He posted 159 tackles during his career with 10.5 coming behind the line of scrimmage, while also intercepting six passes and returning two of them for touchdowns.  In addition, he had 30 passes defended during his four years with a high of 14 during the 2017 campaign and also blocked two kicks.
	Safety: Justin Onwugbufor (Maize, KS/Northwest) (2017-19) – Onwugbufor, who teamed with Ryan Kirkendall (Silsbee, TX/Silsbee) in the Miner secondary for three seasons, has been named to two All-GLVC teams that included a first-team selection in 2019.  In that season, he led the Miners with 97 tackles and also forced three fumbles.  He has 199 tackles in his first three seasons and has nine passes defended during that span of time.
	Defense-Utility: Bo Brooks (2015-18) – Brooks started his career at S&T in the secondary and earned second-team All-GLVC honors in 2017, then moved up to a linebacker spot in his senior year and established a new single season standard with 22 tackles for a loss as he was named first-team All-GLVC and to three All-America teams.  Brooks, a four-year starter who was invited to the rookie camps of the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals, recorded 254 career tackles, 11 quarterback sacks and 25 passes defended, as well as seven forced fumbles, two blocked kicks and an interception.
	Kick Returner: Mark Hopkins (2010-13) – Hopkins is the only player in S&T history to average more than 20 yards on both kickoff and punt returns in the same season, doing so in the 2010 campaign.  In that year, he was named as the D2Football.com Player of the Week on special teams after recording a school record 167 yards in punt returns – including a 78-yard runback for a touchdown to spark a comeback win over Kentucky Wesleyan.  Hopkins also holds the school record for the longest interception return in school history of 96 yards.  He also earned All-GLFC honors in 2010 and All-GLVC laurels in 2013 in the secondary.