Ex-Whitehall star Hamscher is saluted by the Ivy League

FROM KEITH GROLLER

University of Pennsylvania junior safety Matt Hamscher was named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after he led a defense that shut down the Ivy’s top offense in a 27-13 win over Columbia on Saturday at Franklin Field.

Hamscher, a Whitehall High grad, sacked Lions’ quarterback Sean Brackett twice for losses totaling 14 yards.

He finished with a team-high eight tackles (five solo) and had three stops for losses totaling 17 yards.

"It always helps having a great defensive line and we had three guys up front who can take control of the game," Hamscher said. "With our defense, it's not easy for opposing offenses to pick up our blitzes. I was just doing my assignment and the other 10 guys on the team were doing theirs and it opened it right up for me."

Hamscher helped the Quakers, now ranked as high as 20th in one FCS poll, hold Columbia to 44 rushing yards and well under its season average of 29.3 points. Penn is 4-1 with its lone loss coming against defending FCS national champ Villanova.

It’s not the first time the Ivy League has recognized Hamscher. He won the league’s rookie of the week award as a freshman in 2008 when he was still a running back. He received the honor after rushing for 102 yards on 21 carries and scored a touchdown against Georgetown.

The Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Top-25 College Football Poll Team (First-place votes) Record Points Previous Rank
1. Appalachian State Mountaineers (111) 6-0 3,718 1
2. Delaware Blue Hens (28) 7-0 3,594 2
3. Jacksonville State Gamecocks (11) 7-0 3,419 3
4. William & Mary Tribe 5-1 3,293 4
5. Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (1) 5-1 3,164 5
6. Villanova Wildcats 4-2 2,988 6
7. Montana Grizzlies 5-2 2,594 11
8. Eastern Washington Eagles 5-2 2,520 12
9. Wofford Terriers 5-1 2,394 14
10. New Hampshire Wildcats 4-3 2,047 16
11. James Madison Dukes 4-2 2,001 7
12. Massachusetts Minutemen 4-2 1,854 8
13. Southeast Missouri State Redhawks 6-1 1,807 18
14. Bethune-Cookman Wildcats 6-0 1,592 23
15. Montana State Bobcats 5-2 1,551 9
16. Richmond Spiders 3-3 1,479 20
17. Liberty Flames 5-2 1,341 19
18. South Carolina State Bulldogs 4-2 1,283 10
19. Northern Iowa Panthers 3-3 759 22
20. Penn Quakers 4-1 625 25
21. Western Illinois Leathernecks 5-2 622 NR
22. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 4-2 599 NR
23. Cal Poly Mustangs 4-3 584 13
24. Chattanooga Mocs 4-2 516 NR
25. Furman Paladins 4-2 462 NR
Others receiving votes: North Dakota State 353, Elon 329, Grambling State 319, Jacksonville 309, Jackson State 148, Hampton 144, Robert Morris 120, Southern Illinois 98, Georgia Southern 85, Colgate 63, Dayton 56, Sam Houston State 41, South Dakota State 32, Indiana State 24, Illinois State 24, McNeese State 24, Sacramento State 23, Lehigh 16, Yale 15, Southern Utah 13, Texas State 9, Weber State 8, UC Davis 7, South Dakota 4, Harvard 3, Tennessee State 2.
The Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Top 25 Voters - The Sports Network: Aaron Corrill, Andrew Gaddess, Craig Haley, Phil Sokol, Kevin Spiegel; Big Sky: Brian Berger, Brad Bugger, Roy Burton, Dave Cook, Mick Holien, Jon Kasper, Heather Kennedy, Bill Lamberty, Brad Larsen, Jeff Lasky, Scott Marsh, Fritz Neighbor, Steve Schaack, Steve Shaff, Mitch Strohman; Big South: John Avery, Wade Branner, Blake Freeland, Adam Gutes, Brent Hager, Matt Hogue, Chris Lang, Marc Rabb, Mark Simpson, Todd Wetmore; CAA Football: Mike Barber, Pete Clawson, Mike DeGeorge, Glenn Frazer, Dean Kenefick, Allen Lessels, Andrew Mahoney, John Martin, Scott Meyer, Mike Murphy, Dan O'Connell, Keith Pompey, Scott Selheimer, Kevin Tresolini, Matt Vautour, Melinda Waldrop, Jason Yellin; Great West: Amil Anderson, Eric Burdick, Jacque Cottrell, Neil Gardner, Jeremy Hoeck, Doug Kelly, Mike Robles, Randy Scovil; Independent Schools: Ted Alexander, Chris Hooks, Opio Mashariki, Rich Radford, Kimberly Zivkovich; Ivy League: Rick Bender, Ed Benkin, Eric Dolan, Michael Gold, Chris Humm, Craig Larson, Craig Sachson, Kurt Svoboda, Bruce Wood; MEAC: Chris Carlson, Thomas Grant, Bill Hamilton, Leonard Hayes IV, Ed Hill Jr., Ronnie Johnson, Dennis Jones, Matt Michalec, Eric Moore, Patricia Porter, Dan Ryan, Maurice Williams, Brent Woronoff; Missouri Valley Football Conference: John Bohnenkamp, Jason Clay, Todd Hefferman, Jason Hove, Ace Hunt, Mike Kern, Rick Kindhart, Kara Moran, Patrick Osterman, Trevor Parks, Randy Reinhardt, Jeff Schwartz, Lyndal Scranton, Terry Vandrovec, Mike Williams, Brock Wissmiller; Northeast Conference: Brian DePasquale, Jim Duzyk, Andrew Santillo, Chris Shovlin, Jason Sullivan, Ralph Ventre, Greg Viscomi; Ohio Valley Conference: Neal Bradley, John Brush, Michael Clark, Wallace Dooley, Barry Gresham, Jeff Honza, James Horne, Brad Kirtley, Joe Lofaro, Rich Moser, Brian Nielsen, Mike Parris, Kyle Schwartz, Greg Seitz; Patriot League: Charles Bare, Bill Bowman, Joe DiBari, Matt Dougherty, Keith Groller, Jeremiah Hergott, Steve Lomangino, Eric Malanowski, Matt Markus, Ryan Sakamoto; Pioneer Football League: Cody Bush, Jack Cronin, Drew Dickerson, Jeff Elliott, Mike Ferraro, Marc Gignac, Ted Gosen, Joel Lamp, Mike Mahon, Barry Milligan, Chuck Mraz, Joe Prisco, Ryan Wronkowicz; Southern Conference: Jay Blackman, Tommy Bowman, Rose Carter, Mike Flynn, Don Heath, David Jackson, Joey Mullins, Noelle Orr-Blaney, Chris Rash, Hunter Reid, Mandrallius "Many" Robinson, Adam Smith, Brent Williamson, Jason Yaman; Southland: Jason Barfield , Louis Bonnette, James Dixon, Kevin Gore, Alex Hickey, Doug Ireland, Todd Lamb, Tyler Mayforth, Rick Poulter, Brent St. Germain, Matt Sullivan; Southwestern Athletic Conference: Rodney Bush, Tom Galbraith, Ley Jean, Leonard Moon, Roderick Mosley, Wesley Peterson, Brandon Willis; Other Representatives: Brian Brennan, Josh Buchanan, LeCounte Conaway.

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