PLYMOUTH, N.H. – A Plymouth State College football player has been selected to a pair of Division III All-America Teams, becoming the 23rd player in school history to receive national football honors.
Senior linebacker Dave Gibson (Middletown, RI) was named Second Team All-America by Don Hansen’s Football Gazette, and Third Team on the Hewlett-Packard Division III All-American Team.
A 6’0″, 225-pound linebacker, Gibson terrorized opponents all season long. He registered 106 total tackles in 10 games, leading the Panthers in tackles for the third consecutive season. He made 18 stops in the opponents’ backfield, including a pair of sacks, along with two pass breakups, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and one interception, which he returned 35 yards for a touchdown.
Gibson was regularly on the receiving end of weekly honors in 1997. He was the FFC Defensive Player of the Week once, made the FFC Weekly Honor Roll three times, and earned ECAC New England Honor Roll accolades once. He is a three-time All-New England selection.
The All-America honors are the final in a long line of awards Gibson has received this season. He was already named Freedom Football Conference Defensive Player of the Year, All-FFC First Team, All-New England First Team by both the ECAC and the New England Football Writers, and All-East Region First Team by Don Hansen’s Football Gazette.
Gibson was instrumental in PSC having the top-rated defense in the Freedom Football Conference. He helped lead the Panthers to a 7-4 overall record and 4-2 conference mark, and a record ninth ECAC post-season appearance. The Panthers were edged by Buffalo State, 21-17, in the ECAC Northwest Championship game.
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