National Signing Day notebook: Fort Hamilton sends three to FCS

Fort Hamilton’s season ended earlier than normal this fall, in the quarterfinals to DeWitt Clinton. National Signing Day, however, was pretty standard for the Bay Ridge powerhouse.

The Tigers sent two players to the Football Championship Subdivision (Division I-AA) schools as Toba Akinleye (Columbia) and Mensur Ibric (Sacred Heart),put pen to paper, and had a third, former Tiger standout Levon Williams of Nassau Community College (Fordham), join the festivities.

Injuries to quarterbacks Marvin Centeno and Travon Reid-Segure thwarted Fort Hamilton’s hopes to repeat as city champions. Akinleye and Ibric did all they could, as top linemen.

Akinleye, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound pass-rushing demon, took advantage of a position change to defensive end by racking up 63 tackles and 16 tackles. He picked Columbia over Fordham, Stony Brook and New Haven. A 93-average student, academics factored heavily into Akinleye’s decision.

“Hopefully, I can take advantage of getting a great education,” he said previously. “It’s a great feeling, I’m just thankful. It’s a great campus and it is a great academic institution. I felt comfortable in the environment."

Ibric chose Sacred Heart of the Northeast Conference over C.W. Post, Albany and Stony Brook, among others. He was recruited as a defensive end, though the 6-foot-4, 230-pound senior was voted Brooklyn’s top offensive lineman by the borough’s coaches, Fort Hamilton head man Danny Perez said.

“The last two years our running game was pretty much behind him, we had one of the best running games in the city the last two years and it was because of Mensur,” Perez said of Ibric, who had 56 sacks and six sacks on defense. “He was a very important part of our success. I knew something was going to happen for Mensur. He’s a kid that was very influential the last two years for us and had good grades.”

Coaches at Sacred Heart have told Perez they may explore using Ibric at tight end because of his soft hands and athleticism – he also plays basketball at the Brooklyn school. Perez would’ve tried him there, too, but Fort Hamilton doesn’t utilize a tight end in its spread attack.

The 6-foot-3 Williams, who was a star receiver in his days at Fort Hamilton but moved to safety at Nassau, chose the Rams and new coach Joe Moorhead a few weeks back. He liked the idea of being a part of Fordham's rebuilding plan and said the coaching staff made him a priority.

He went back to Fort Hamilton on Wednesday to make it official. When he failed to qualify out of high school, Williams promised himself he would have a day like this, at his alma mater.