Offense is flashy. It drives the touchdown celebrations and the adulation of the fans.

Ultimately, however, defense gets the victories.

The members of the Butler County Sweet 16 Defensive football team certainly got their fair share of wins for their teams and a share of big numbers for themselves, too.

Perhaps no high school defense has been as dominant this season as Grove City’s. The Eagles have four representatives on the defensive team, led by senior cornerbacks Tim Waxenfelter and Adam Rudolph.

The duo combined for 12 interceptions this season for Grove City, the District 10 Class AA champion.

“With the defense we play, we ask a lot of our corners,” said Grove City coach Jeff Bell. “A lot of teams like to shy away from the middle of the field (and safety Jesse Alfreno).

“We’ve done a real good job against the pass. Fortunately for us, we don’t give up big plays.”

Grove City defensive tackle Kent Uber also made the defensive team for the Eagles. A 6-foot-5, 255 pound senior, Uber had 13 tackles in the playoff win over North East.

“He sure had a big game against North East,” Bell said. “He’s another kid who’s gotten better every week. Those kids on defense have really worked well as a group. We really play team defense.”

Jack Vallely, another senior, also made the team at linebacker for Grove City.

Led by Matt Schandelmeier, Moniteau also had four members on the team led by.

The junior defensive end recorded 12 sacks and also had 54 tackles this season for the Warriors.

“He anchors the defense,” said Moniteau coach Steve Wilson. “He forces a team to run away from him. I’ve seen him blow up lead blockers. He’s always in the backfield.”

But the Warriors also had other defensive standouts, such as Josh Warburton, Clay Campbell and Greg Kepple.

Warburton did a little bit of everything for the Warriors this season. He had two interceptions, two sacks and 22 tackles at his safety spot.

“He’s the smartest kid on our defense,” Wilson said. “He was our X-factor.”

Kepple, a cornerback, was also a factor for Moniteau, picking off four passes and slapping away 14 others.

“He was in on 18 passes over the course of the year,” Wilson said. “That’s pretty good. We matched him up on the other team’s best receiver.”

Campbell led the team in tackles with 90.

“He was huge,” Wilson said. “He was a huge tackles for us and the MVP of our team.”

Freeport, which had the county’s best pass defense, earned two spots on the defensive team. Not so surprisingly, the representatives were the Yellowjackets’ two cornerbacks, Kiel Conjack and Kory Micholas.

The duo combined for nine picks and were part of a defense that surrendered just 210 passing yards in nine games.

“They did a good job,” said Freeport coach Bill Dillen. “We play a lot of man to man.”

The play of Conjack and Micholas allowed Dillen the flexibility to take more chances and be more aggressive up front.

“It was a luxury,” Dillen said. “It allows a team to do some thing with the front and the linebackers you normally wouldn’t be able to do.”

Knoch had three members on the defensive team in linebackers Tim Hickey and Billy Elliott and nose guard Tyler Ray.

Mars was represented by linebacker David Pisarcik and down lineman Pete King.

Karns City cornerback Kyle Texter, who gave up just two receptions all season, rounded out the team.

DEFENSIVE HONORABLE MENTIONS

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Linemen: Mike Barch (Freeport), Ryan Flick (Moniteau).

Linebackers: Mike Holes (Grove City), Dan Wise (Grove City), Matt Turek (Grove City), Cody Betush (Freeport), Dan Tatangelo (Butler).

Secondary: Marshall Lee (Seneca Valley), Ian Haley (Butler), Jesse Binus (Butler), David Bauer (Slippery Rock), Calvin Love (Summit Academy).