Edefuan Ulofoshio
University of Washington captain Edefuan Ulofoshio isn’t just one of the best linebackers in college football.
He’s one of the greatest from Alaska.
Already the school’s career tackles leader for a player from The Last Frontier after he surpassed fellow Anchorage native and former captain David Killpatrick last season, Ulofoshio now has set his sights on the magic number of 200.
Ulofoshio inched closer to the major milestone after registering his 175th career tackle for the eighth-ranked Huskies in Saturday’s 41-7 victory at Michigan State.
Only four players from Alaska have recorded 200 tackles at the NCAA Division I level, so Ulofoshio would be the fifth, and the first since Eagle River’s Ed Hall in 2018, when he finished with 239 stops in 46 games at Idaho.
Ulofoshio has played in only 34 college games after he missed half of the 2021 season with a bicep injury and then sat out eight games last year after tearing his ACL.
Back for a sixth year, he has returned in the best shape of his life.
— Kim Grinolds (@KimGrinolds) September 16, 2023
Ulofoshi (South High) has registered 18 tackles and a sack for the 3-0 Huskies. The 6-foot-1, 236-pounder is a Preseason All-Pac-12 Second Team pick and was nominated for the Wuerffell Trophy.
His five sacks rank third among Alaskans at the D1 level.
Fairbanks’ Ward Dobbs ranks No. 1 with 6.5 sacks – to go with 343 tackles in 47 games – at Wyoming from 2005 to 2008.
Ulofoshio and Dobbs are already connected as they share the Alaska single-game tackles record of 18.
Nathaniel Lyken
At Orange Coast College, Nathanial Lyken of Anchorage made a house call in a 48-14 loss to Santa Barbara in the California Community College Athletic Association.
The sophomore defensive back returned an interception 63 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter to get his team on the board.
Lyken (West High) also made four tackles, including one for a loss.
Last season, Lyken had a 58-yard interception TD return against Grossmont for another pick six.
At Dickinson State, Jayden Heartwell of Anchorage snagged a fourth-quarter interception in the red zone to key his team’s 27-24 victory over Wisconsin-Stout.
Jayden Heartwell
It was the junior defensive back’s second pick of the season and 10th of his career in 22 games with the NAIA team in North Dakota.
Heartwell (South High) made the interception at the 2-yard-line and returned it 27 yards before he was tackled at the 29. He also had a 1-yard punt return and made five tackles, including one for a loss.
Last year, Heartwell had five interceptions to rank in the top 15 nationally at the NAIA level.