The leading tackler for the Odessa High football team has a wealth of knowledge on both the turf and the dirt.
Mikahel “Wiki” De Leon is a senior linebacker for the Bronchos, and has accumulated 69 tackles this season, best among all Bronchos defenders and sixth among the leaders in the 2-6A district.
“De Leon has done a good job of finding the ball, getting in the right spot, and just making the plays when plays are there to be made,” Bronchos coach Dusty Ortiz said. “That’s kind of what you want out your linebackers.
“You want them to be playmakers and make the tackles and he’s definitely done that.”
“Wiki”, De Leon’s nickname, was given early in life.
“When I was little, I was supposed to be called ‘Mickey’ – short for ‘Mick-eye-EL’, but my dad started calling me ‘Wiki’, and it just stuck like that,” De Leon said.
Ortiz loves what he sees out of De Leon.
“(De Leon) has been a three-year varsity player,” Ortiz said. “He has a great attitude and does a really good job – I didn’t know what to expect from him coming into the season, and he has really held his own.”
The Bronchos have struggled at times on defense, but De Leon still makes an impact each Friday.
“We are not just going to go down without a fight,” De Leon said. “We are going to fight to the end, and it ain’t over ‘till it’s over’.”
“We have made a lot of changes defensively early on, and he’s picked them up and he’s really grown as a leader on the football team and we’re just happy to have him,” Ortiz said.
De Leon thanks his coaches and teammates for honing his craft at linebacker over the past three seasons.
“My coaches, my teammates and people that I learned from before they left – they taught me a lot,” De Leon said. “Coach (Ortiz) shared a lot – he has helped me a lot by becoming a better linebacker.”
De Leon believes that he has improved his speed and become stronger on the field during his time with the Bronchos.
“I’ve gotten a little faster, stretched out a little bit, and learned about the weight room,” De Leon said. “Coach Shields has helped me by just telling me to stay square, read and go downhill,” De Leon continued. “Go attack instead of just waiting for them.
“Just little things like that little adjustments that that people have helped me with.”
Ortiz added that De Leon is a multi-sport player, and De Leon felt that the skills that he learned on the diamond have translated to the gridiron.
“I play first base and sometimes pitcher,” De Leon said. “Seeing the little things, like in baseball – like when a pitch is coming inside is the same on the field. You have to see the little things and recognize the details.”
De Leon’s role model is former Baltimore Ravens Hall of Fame middle linebacker Ray Lewis, and felt that Lewis’ passion for football is what drove De Leon to also become a linebacker.
“I love that Lewis is aggressive and plays with heart,” De Leon said. “He has a lot of heart and I see that he had a lot of emotion playing the game.
“He loved the game. I have got to love the game. Have fun doing it as well.”
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