Farmington product Garrett leads Southeast Missouri State football in tackling

~ The sophomore linebacker had a career-high 19 tackles in Saturday's loss

If Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz could only use one word to describe redshirt-sophomore linebacker Roper Garrett it would be "competitor."

"It really wouldn't matter the subject. You could be playing cards or you could be having a goal-line rep, he is just the ultimate competitor," Matukewicz said following Tuesday's practice at the Rosengarten Athletic Conference. "He wants to be great, and when you coach a guy like that that's fun because you can push them."

The Farmington, Missouri, native said that he's had that competitive spirit since he started playing sports when he was 5.

"I've just played my whole life and I just wanted to win at everything I did, no matter whether it was a sport or board game or anything," Garrett said with a smile. "I just want to give it my all."

Garrett finished with a career-high 19 tackles -- six solo and 13 assists -- in the Redhawks loss to Eastern Illinois on Saturday.

It was the fifth time this season that he's had double-digit tackles.

"He's instinctive. He's learning how to play the position," Matukewicz said. "He's only a sophomore, so I still think he could get a lot better, probably more so in his pass coverage because his run stuff is pretty solid. He's just everything you want in a Redhawk."

Roper Garrett, whose brother Rider Garrett is a redshirt freshman at Southeast, joined the football team as a walk-on in 2012. He liked that Southeast was close to home and that he'd be playing Division I.

He's since earned a scholarship and been thrust into growing up on the team quickly.

He's one of the youngest members of the Redhawks' player-elected Leadership Council. Garrett admits he's "not a talker" and leaves that role up to some of his teammates, leading by example instead.

"I feel like my team has thrown a lot of leadership things at me, but I've taken it all on," Garrett said. "I'm proud to have this team and proud to help lead it."

Garrett was third on the team with 65 tackles last season.

This year he's leading the Ohio Valley Conference with 90 tackles. The 11.3 tackles he's averaging per game is second in the conference and ninth in the Football Championship Subdivision, and he leads the conference with five forced fumbles.

Garrett is determined to keep improving, and part of that is to play more like a veteran.

He said that he'll point out when something doesn't look right to him on the field or if something might need to be adjusted, and Matukewicz is always willing to listen.

"He's a great evaluator," Matukewicz said. "If I come to him and say, 'Hey, Roper, what do you think?' He's always really thoughtful with his answers, and it makes a lot of sense what he's saying."

Garrett has been one constant on a defense that has been decimated by injuries and has struggled to be consistent. He said the defense has been focusing on better tackling and technique after last week's loss.

"Right now we're not playing as consistently as we should be, and I feel like that's something that we'll change this week and hopefully for the rest of the season," Garrett said.