Illustration by Sam Thiel TMB's Trevor Eisfeld was named the 2019 Marshall Independent Defensive Player of the Year.

TRACY – Over the past few seasons, the Tracy-Milroy-Balaton football team has made stout defense its calling card and have enjoyed a great deal of success because of it. A key cog of the vaunted unit throughout that time has been senior defensive tackle Trevor Eisfeld, who managed to take his game to another level during the 2019 season.

Accumulating an area-leading 33.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks, Eisfeld wreaked havoc on running backs and quarterbacks this past season and served as a leader not only on the defensive line, but for the entire group as a whole.

As a result of Eisfeld’s remarkable production on the field — combined with outstanding leadership shown on and off the field — the Independent sports staff has named him the 2019 Marshall Independent Defensive Player of the Year.

Eisfeld was taken aback by the selection after dreaming about what he could accomplish as a senior as far back as his sixth grade year.

“I was pretty surprised,” said Eisfeld. “It was pretty fun this year, I played really hard. In my sixth grade year, I played about the same and I just thought about what was going to happen when I was a senior and I made it happen.”

Reflecting on the eye-popping numbers he was able to put up during his senior season, Eisfeld credits his ability to get off the ball faster than his opponent as one of the keys to his ability to disrupt offenses.

“I just mostly got lower than everybody else and I just got through faster because I was a little quicker,” said Eisfeld. “I was just able to get there faster than them. Just being faster off the start helped a lot.”

Under head coach Jason Kainz, the Panthers concluded their season with an overall record of 5-5 in regular season and section tournament play. TMB’s season ended in the semifinals of the Section 3AA tournament with a 39-14 loss to Pipestone after previously defeating St. James 36-21 in the quarterfinals.

The 2019 season was Eisfeld’s final run in a Panthers uniform after being a fixture on both sides of the football since his freshman year. In addition to his role as defensive tackle, Eisfeld lined up at left guard and fullback on offense where he was once again a major factor in the unit’s success.

According to Eisfeld, coach Kainz and assistant coaches Derek Ashbaugh, Alex Greenway and Chris Davis were huge influences on his growth as a player by seeing potential in him early on his career and continuing to push him along the way.

“It was mostly my coaches (who helped me grow as a player),” said Eisfeld. “They saw my potential in that spot and kept pushing me and they helped get me there. Coach Kainz, Ashbaugh, Greenway and Davis, they all helped me a lot.”

The impact made by the coaches extended beyond X’s and O’s, however, as Eisfeld said respect and playing for more than just himself were two big takeways from his time playing for the Panthers.

“It’s been really fun. It just taught me respect and you’re playing for more than yourself,” said Eisfeld. “You’re playing for your team and it was just really fun.”

Though Eisfeld’s career in a TMB football uniform has come to an end, he has plans to continue his football career next season in Brookings, South Dakota where he will attempt to walk on to the football team.

“I’m going to try to walk on at South Dakota State University for football,” said Eisfeld.