March 19th 2011
Bridgeport’s Christon Gill finds a home
Bridgeport’s Christon Gill poses with his Western Carolina gear after signing his letter of intent Monday, March 21, 2011. (Photo courtesy of Christon Gill)
Just a few months after being spurned by several major college football programs, Bridgeport’s Christon Gill has finally found a school anxious to get him into its football uniform.
Gill, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound 2009 all-state defensive back and quarterback at Central, signed a letter of intent to attend and play football at Western Carolina Monday.
Gill led the Hilltoppers to a 9-2 record and the FCIAC championship game in 2009 and spent a postgraduate season at Avon Old Farms. He had visited with Penn State, Temple and UMass, and was in talks with others others on and around National Signing Day in January.
No official offers arrived. Western Carolina, however, kept on him.
“They had been contacting me for awhile,” said Gill, who spent last weekend at the Cullowhee, N.C. school, which is nestled in the Appalachian Mountains an hour southwest of Asheville. “And I was pretty much using them as a backup. But after flying out there this weekend, I loved the place. The coaches are cool, the stadium is nice, they play some good schools, and the coaches said I looked good on film and I could pretty much start right away.
“It’s a nice place, kind of like Penn State. It’s its own little town in the mountains.”
Western Carolina, an NCAA FCS (Division I-AA) school, plays in the Southern Conference with Appalachian State, Furman, Wofford and Elon. The Catamounts went 2-9 (1-7) a year ago.
Gill’s value, he said, will be to replace one of the two senior safeties who graduated last season. “They’re rebuilding,” Gill said. “They had a lot of young guys — sophomores and juniors — playing last year.”
Gill said he’ll finish his postgrad year at Avon Old Farms and leave for Western Carolina in June or July.
Gill credited Guy Fortt, the father of Stamford grad and Penn State LB Khairi Fortt, for “putting me on the map,” and to Michael Greene and Lee Johnson of LML Sports training center for guiding him.
More Information: Western Carolina Football
AVON OLD FARMS HIGHLIGHT REEL
BRIDGEPORT CENTRAL HIGHLIGHT REEL
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Tags: Christon Gill, Gill
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