NEWS

DAVIDSON, N.C. – Davidson’s Gilbert Deglau (Sr. / OL), Beck Kipperman (Sr. / OL) and Jonathan Hammond (Sr. / DL) have been voted preseason all-conference, as announced by the Pioneer Football League Wednesday afternoon.

Deglau and Kipperman started every game in 2022, anchoring an offensive line that helped the Wildcats to the nation’s top rushing attack for the third consecutive season and fourth time in head coach Scott Abell‘s five-year tenure.

Named PFL Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2020-21 and first-team all-conference as a sophomore, Hammond finished last season with 10 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks, moving into seventh (32.5) and fifth (19.0) in school history, respectively. In the Wildcats’ 48-14 win at Drake, Hammond tied a single-game school record with five tackles for a loss and picked up three sacks, earning PFL Defensive Player of the Week.

All three Wildcats were second-team all-conference selections a year ago.

Entering his sixth season at the helm, Abell has guided the Wildcats to a 34-19 overall record and 28-13 conference mark, while capturing two PFL titles.

Just one of four teams to make the last three FCS Playoffs, Davidson finished the 2022 season with its fifth straight winning season, marking just the fourth time in program history to accomplish that feat.

A year ago, the Wildcats were also just one of four FCS teams to finish in the top 20 nationally in both total offense and defense.

The upcoming 2022 season marks the 31st year for the Pioneer Football League. The league will feature 11 teams each playing an eight-game schedule to determine the league champion and recipient of the automatic bid to the NCAA FCS Championship.

The 2023 schedule gets underway Thursday, Aug. 31 with Morehead State hosting West Virginia State before Valparaiso meets Youngstown State. The 2023 PFL race starts in Week 3 (Sept. 16) when Davidson travels to Marist.

Davidson will kickoff its 2023 campaign Saturday, Sept. 2 with a 1:30 p.m. contest at VMI.

About the Pioneer Football League
The Pioneer Football League is the only non-scholarship, football-only NCAA Football Championship Subdivision conference. The PFL is a truly national conference with members on each coast and throughout the nation’s heartland. Butler University, the University of Dayton, Drake University, and Valparaiso University were among the league’s founding members in 1993, with Davidson College, Marist College, Morehead State University, Presbyterian College, the University of San Diego, the University of St. Thomas, and Stetson University joining to form the current 11-team league.