Sara Miller

Sports in Kansas 2023 6A Defensive Player of the Year🏈 J.C. Heim & Jaren Heim, Washburn Rural The Heim brothers have to go down as one of the best ever sets of twin football players in the state of Kansas and what a senior season they had as human highlight reels for Washburn Rural. While J.C. was named top 11 all-classes for his accomplishments on both sides of the ball, what each one of them brought to the defense this season was off-the charts. Jaren, 6’2” and 215-pound senior, had 123 tackles (10 TFLs) along with four interceptions, four fumble recoveries, three fumble recoveries for touchdowns. He had four defensive touchdowns this season, which almost sounds made up. J.C., a 6’3” 225-pound senior, had a school record 173 stops along with eight sacks, 17 tackles for loss and one defensive TD. On offense he also added 12 total touchdowns and over 600 combined yards. The two helped Washburn Rural to their best season in years, finishing 11-1, losing by a field goal in heartbreaker to Derby. The Rural defense allowed 15.2 points per game, it was their best season defensively since 1993, under HC Steve Buhler