Saturday, August 23, 2014

7 Days 'till Kickoff - #7 Christon Gill

It's now 7 days until kickoff of Catamount football at the Raymond James Stadium, home of the University of South Florida Bulls on August 30th in in Tampa, FL.

To help pass those long summer days until football season starts, and hopefully get the Catamount faithful more excited about the upcoming season, we'll continue the 100 day football countdown each day until kickoff day.

Today we'll highlight a linebacker.

#7 Christon Gill

Class: Senior
Hometown: Bridgeport, Conn.
High School: Bridgeport Central HS
Last College: Avon Old Farms Prep
Height / Weight: 6-0 / 225
Position: LB



2013 (Junior): Started all 12 games at the linebacker position ... Was second on the defensive unit with a career-best 101 tackles including 49 solo stops and 2.5 tackles for loss ... Recorded double-digit tackles four times including 10 against The Citadel, 12 against nationally-ranked Wofford, a career-high 13 in the win over Elon and 12 against Furman ... Posted eight-or-more tackles in seven of the 12 games ... His 8.4 tackles per game average ranked sixth in the Southern Conference ... Forced two fumbles on the year ranking tied for eighth in the SoCon (0.17 per game) while recovering one ... Tallied three pass break-ups and recorded his first career interception at ACC-foe, Virginia Tech, intercepting Logan Thomas.

2012 (Sophomore): Played in six games, all as a reserve on the WCU defense ... Finished the season with nine total tackles including two solo stops ... All of his tackles came in the road game at Marshall in early September.

2011 (Freshman): Played in 10 of WCU's 11 games, making seven starts as a true freshman ... Finished with 62 tackles to rank third on the team, recording three tackles for eight yards of losses ... Recorded double-digit tackles three times ... Had 35 solo stops, fourth on the team ... Recovered two fumbles including one against Elon and one at Samford, returning the takeaway 20 yards ... Made his collegiate debut in the second game of the year against Mars Hill, recording three total tackles including two solo stops ... Earned his first collegiate start against Furman, securing 11 total hits with four solo stops and a pass break-up ... Posted his career-best of eight solo stops at Appalachian State as a part of his career-high 13 total tackles ... Credited with six tackles in WCU's annual Spring Game.

Prior to Western Carolina: Was a three-time all-league selection as both a quarterback and defensive back as a prep ... the two-way athlete rushed for nearly 2,000 yards and 37 touchdowns, caught 29 passes for 469 yards and six scores while also passing for over 3,000 yards and 21 scores at Bridgeport Central ... On defense at BCHS, was credited with over 230 tackles and 23 interceptions ... Became the first quarterback to win the MVP award at the Thanksgiving Day game ... In one season of post-graduate play at Avon, rushed for 1,159 yards and 20 touchdowns while also hauling in 22 passes for 600 yards and eight TDs - defensively, recorded nine interceptions ... Rated as a two-star athlete out of high school by Rivals.com ... Also played basketball as a prep, earning all-league honors in helping Bridgeport Central win the state championship his senior year ... Was originally recruited by Penn State out of high school.

Personal: Full name is Christon Lamar Gill ... Is the son of Beverly Gill ... Has three siblings - Chakeya, Kelleray and Shynaya ... His brother played football at American International College in Springfield, Mass.


 Courtesy WCU Athletic Media Relations

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