Miami Central’s Ezekiel Marcelin is the Dade 2M-1M Defensive Player of the Year
Ezekiel Marcelin was groomed for the career he’s having at Miami Central.
Growing up playing youth football and later as an understudy with the Rockets under greats such as Rueben Bain and Wesley Bissainthe, Marcelin knew this past season was his time to step up and keep up the school’s tradition of great linebackers.
Although the season didn’t finish the way Marcelin or the Rockets hoped it would, he did his part to maintain the team’s elite standard with a stellar season on defense that propelled Central to the Region 4-2M final.
As such, Marcelin becomes the latest Central Rocket to earn the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade Defensive Player of the Year honors. Marcelin, who wins it in the Class 2M-1M category, compiled 109 tackles including 19 for loss and recorded 12 sacks this season for the Rockets.
“I grew up with Rueben Bain as a kid and he was my best friend,” Marcelin said. “He showed me the Rocket Way on the field and prepared me for the recruiting process. It allowed me to be a leader on this team.”
Marcelin showed signs of having a breakout campaign already as a sophomore in 2022 when he had 79 tackles and seven sacks and forced the game-clinching fumble in the Rockets’ state championship win over Plantation American Heritage.
Marcelin carried over that momentum to 2023 and was a force in Central’s most important games.
Marcelin had four sacks in Central’s regular season loss to Norland and recorded double digit tackles against Las Vegas Bishop Gorman, both games against Miami Booker T. Washington, and both games against Norland.
Even on a defense that also included stars such as defensive end Armondo Blount and safety Amari Wallace, Marcelin stood out for his high motor and ability to disrupt opposing offenses on nearly every play.
“We’re hard workers (at Central) and if you don’t like to work then Central is not for you,” Marcelin said early in the season.
Bain, who won Defensive Player of the Year honors each of the past two seasons, went on to win Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Rookie of the Year honors this past season at the University of Miami. Bissainthe started 10 of UM’s 13 games in 2023 in his second season with the Hurricanes.
Miami is one of several FBS-level schools recruiting Marcelin, a 6-0, 190-pound junior who is rated a 3-star prospect and the No. 37 overall linebacker in the nation by 247Sports.
“Wesley just showed me how to play linebacker and everything he was doing, all the extra work he put in and how to succeed,” Marcelin said.
