AMHERST, MA – Amherst football seniors Kevin Ferber (Mahwah, NJ) and Matt Rawson (Bethesda, MD) recently nabbed a pair of preseason honors with the duo earning spots on the 2011 D3 Senior Classic Preseason All-America team.
The nation's premier postseason all-star game showcasing NCAA Division III seniors, the 2011 Senior Classic is slated for Saturday, December 10 at Salem Stadium in Salem, VA – home to the DIII National Championship. Members of the preseason All-America team are eligible to receive a game invitation to the third annual Classic, an 80-player, North vs. South affair.
Two of just four NESCAC student-athletes to be recognized, Ferber garnered first-team North Defense accolades, while Rawson, also named to the 2011 Fred Mitchell Award Watch List, received North Team honorable mention recognition. Joining the Lord Jeffs as the conference's lone Senior Classic preseason All-America representatives were Trinity's Walter Fallas, a second-team North Defense honoree, and Williams' honorable mention linebacker Dylan Schultz.
Recently becoming the NESCAC's first-ever D3football.com Preseason All-America first-team selection, Ferber adds first-team Senior Classic Preseason All-America honors to his growing list of accolades. A standout defensive tackle, he finished 2010 ranked third in the NESCAC in sacks (5.5), seventh in tackles for a loss (8.5) and 14th in tackles per game (7.4) en route to a second-team D3football.com All-America selection.
In his three seasons in Purple and White, the Mahwah native has amassed 100 tackles (18.5 TFL) and 12.5 sacks, while also forcing three fumbles. One of the team's five co-captains, Ferber will look to once again lead and anchor the Jeffs' defensive unit in his final season in the Pioneer Valley.
A Fred Mitchell Award finalist as one of the nation's top collegiate placekickers a year ago, Rawson begins 2011 on the Award's Watch List, while also taking home D3 Senior Classic preseason honorable mention All-America laurels. A second-team D3football.com All-East Region and NEFWA DII/III All-New England selection in 2010, the Bethesda native led Amherst in scoring with 67 points, going 9-for-10 on field-goal attempts and 34-of-36 on extra points.
Also a first-team All-NESCAC performer as a junior, Rawson set the program record for field-goals in a season with his record-breaking ninth tally coming in the Jeffs' season finale against arch-rival Williams on November 13. He twice earned NESCAC Special Teams Player of the Week last year, scoring a season-high 16 points in a 70-49 victory over Tufts on October 30.
Amherst opens its 2011 slate at Bates College in Lewiston, ME on Saturday, September 24.
D3 Senior Classic Preseason All-America Teams
2011 Fred Mitchell Award Watch List
