It was very important to show (the coaches) that I know the defense and they can depend on me to get it done.

Our defense has been the fuel for our offense all season long. We intended to come out strong and play good defense tonight. We played really well as a unit.

We just have to go out and play like a team. Defense wins championships.

The defense played well in the first half. We played well as a unit. The whole team played hard.

In the first half we just stifled them on defense.

I was real happy with our defense. We gambled a little bit more than I liked. I think our ball pressure and denial defense was pretty good especially this time of the year. I told the kids to go out, attack the boards, and lay it all on the line.