2017 Division III CoSIDA Academic All-America Football Team
BALTIMORE, MD – Three members of the Johns Hopkins football team have been named to the 2017 Division III CoSIDA Academic All-America Football Team it was announced today. Senior center Ben Gaal (Sheffield Lake, OH/St. Edware) was named to the first team, while junior wide receiver Luke McFadden (Tampa, FL/Plant) and junior defensive lineman Anthony Davidson (Cuddy, PA/South Fayette) were named to the second team. The three selections boost Johns Hopkins’ all-time number of Academic All-Americans in football to 31.
Johns Hopkins’ three selections are tied with Rose-Hulman (IN) and Springfield (MA) for the most of any team in the nation and also tie the program record. This is the fifth time Johns Hopkins has produced three Academic All-Americans in football in the same season (2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017) and this is also the seventh straight year that head coach Jim Margraff’s team has had two or more Academic All-Americans.
To be eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-All-America honors, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA, be a sophomore or above and a starter or significant reserve.
Gaal started all 11 games at center for the Blue Jays this season as was the leader of a Johns Hopkins offensive line that paved the way for an offense that averaged 39.5 points and 505.7 yards per game. Gaal has a 3.80 cumulative GPA and is majoring in political science/pre-med.
In addition to his exploits on the field, Gaal has served as a research assistant at the Bloomberg School of Public Health for the last year, conducted research at the Cleveland Clinic last summer, spent the summer of 2016 shadowing a hematologist/oncologist at the Mercy Cancer Center; he also completed an internship in the office of Ohio Senator Rob Portman.
Gaal is the 12th Johns Hopkins offensive lineman to earn Academic All-America honors and this is the third consecutive year that a Blue Jay offensive lineman has been named to the team
McFadden, the Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Year, a First Team All-Centennial selection and a Second Team D3football.com All-South Region pick in 2017, totaled 58 receptions for 1,162 yards and nine touchdowns on the year. His 1,162 receiving yards are third best in school history, while his 20.0 yards per reception is a school record for players with 50 or more receptions in a season. McFadden is majoring in economics and has a 3.50 cumulative GPA.
McFadden is a Small Group leader through Hopkins Christian Fellowship, completed a Missions trip to Ecuador in 2016, is in his second year as an Interfraternity Council Representative and is a member of the Financial Analyst Club.
McFadden is the second Johns Hopkins wide receiver to earn Academic All-America honors as he joins Evan Earnest, a first team selection in 2006, on this distinguished list.
A key member of a deep and talented rotation on the defensive line, Davidson is majoring in neuroscience and carries a 3.94 cumulative grade point average. He finished the 2017 season with 20 tackles, including 6.5 for losses and 4.5 sacks, and also led the team with four forced fumbles; his four forced fumbles were third most in the nation in Division III this season.
Davidson is currently serving as a Laboratory Research Assistant in the lab for Child Development at Johns Hopkins, has twice completed surgical shadowing programs, works as a Teaching Assistant (Organic Chemistry) and a Study Consultant and has served as the class liaison for the Johns Hopkins football team in its Be the Match Bone Marrow Drive and its adoption of a child cancer survivor through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation.
Davidson is the eighth Johns Hopkins defensive lineman to be selected as an Academic All-American, including the fifth since 2011.
The College Sports Information Directors of American (CoSIDA) announced its Academic All-America Division III Football Team on Wednesday. Juniata junior defensive back Joel Reighard (Altoona, Pa. / Altoona Area HS) was selected to the Second Team for the second year in a row and was one of 42 players from all of Division III to be named overall.
Academically, Reighard has a 3.96 GPA and his P.O.E. is biology. Last month he was named to the Centennial Conference Honor Roll.
On the field, Reighard was third in total tackles this season with 55. He added one interception, one forced fumble, and eight pass-breakups. He was twice named to the D3football.com Team of the Week.
Moravian College junior defensive back Nick Zambelli has been named to the 2017 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America Football First Team for NCAA Division III schools.
"Congratulations to Nick on this tremendous accomplishment," stated Director of Athletics & Recreation Mary Beth Spirk. "We are very fortunate to have Nick represent Moravian College, the Athletic Department and especially the football team. He is an amazing young man. Nick is one of the best whether he is competing on the football field, performing in the classroom or giving back in our community. We are honored to have Nick a part of our athletic department and look forward to another year of success with him. He is a role model for every student athlete here at Moravian College."
To be eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-America® honors, a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.30 grade-point average, be a sophomore, junior or senior and be a starter or significant reserve. District IV in NCAA Division III is made up of schools from Pennsylvania. Moravian has had 48 Greyhounds including two this fall named CoSIDA Academic All-Americans®, and Zambelli is the fourth football player to receive the honor, joining Mike Paciulli, who was on the First Team in 1996 and the Second Team in 1995, Jud Frank, who made the Second Team in 1993 and Jeff Pollock, who was on the First Team in 1987. Zambelli is Moravian's 18th First Team honoree in all sports.
Zambelli earned a spot on the national ballot after being named to the District IV CoSIDA All-District Team. District IV consists of all of the NCAA Division III Teams in Pennsylvania. He is one of five Centennial Conference student-athletes to earn Academic All-America honors and one of two to be named to the First Team.
"Nick's unrelenting desire to compete to be the best he can be both in the classroom and on the field has earned him this outstanding achievement," commented Head Coach Jeff Pukszyn, who played with Paciulli. "His commitment to excellence comes out in everything that he does. Nick is a great leader and an outstanding person. Academic All-American is not an easy accolade to achieve, and Nick is more than deserving of this recognition. I am very proud of his academic and athletic success, as well as earning First Team Academic All-American."
Zambelli is majoring in Economics and Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics at Moravian, and he has a 4.00 GPA. Last month, he was honored as the Centennial Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year with the top GPA among the 12 junior and senior football players to be named to the Academic All-Centennial Team, an honor that is bestowed on student-athletes that earn All-Centennial Conference honors and a spot on the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll, which Zambelli made for the second straight fall.
This season, Zambelli recorded 70 tackles to finish third on the Moravian squad, and his total included 44 solo stops, one tackle for loss and one sack as he was selected to the Centennial All-Conference Second Team. Zambelli also recorded six passes defended including three interceptions, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. He was named the Greyhounds' Most Valuable Player in the season finale at rival Muhlenberg College after a career-high 13 tackles and an interception on the goal line. Zambelli, who has been a three-year starter at Moravian and was a co-captain for the Hounds this fall, has made 164 tackles with 106 solo stops, seven interceptions, 17 passes defended, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, one tackle for loss and one sack in 31 career contests.