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Bronx, N.Y. (August 22, 2014) – With camp officially over, it's time to finish up the position-by-position breakdown of the 2014 Fordham University Football Rams . Today we wrap up the defense with a sneak peak at the defensive backs.
 
Fordham returns all four starters from the 2013 squad, including three All-Patriot Leaguer performers. Last fall, the Ram defense intercepted 21 passes, tops in the Patriot League and third overall in the NCAA FCS, as the Rams led all of the NCAA FCS with 40 turnovers gained. Two Ram cornerbacks were named All-Patriot League with Ian Williams, who led the league in passes defended, earning First Team honors and Jordan Chapman Second Team accolades. Joining them in earning All-League accolades was safety Levon Williams, who was named to the Second Team.

 

Ian Williams, a fifth-year senior who was named a team captain for the second straight year, was named Preseason All-Patriot League in July. Last fall, he was second on the team with 86 total tackles, 66 solo, including two for a loss and two sacks. He was second on the team with four interceptions and had a team-high 15 pass breakups along with two forced fumbles. Williams led the Patriot League and was seventh in the NCAA FCS in passes defended and was ranked ninth in interceptions and is 16^th in total tackles/game.
 
Chapman, a senior and three-year starter, started all 14 as a junior, recording 64 total tackles, 54 solo, including two for loss. He tied for the team lead with five interceptions, bringing one back 29 yards for a score at Georgetown, and was second with eleven pass deflections and led the Rams with 82 yards on his five interception returns.
 
Levon Williams, a two-year starter, started all 14 games at free safety as a junior and was fourth on the team with 79 total tackles, 52 solo. He also tied for team-high with five interceptions and had two pass breakups, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.
 
The fourth returning starter is senior Jake Dixon, a three-year starter at strong safety. Last fall he appeared in 13 games, starting 12, and compiled 64 total tackles, 48 solo, including 3.0 for loss and 1.0 sacks. He also had one interception, three pass breakups, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
 
Joining the four starters in the defensive backfield are seniors Lourenzo Smith, Alex Leo and Eric Darnell, junior JQ Bowers and sophomores Marcus Fulmore, Roddy Roche and Steven Samela.
 
Last fall, Smith appeared in 13 games, both in the defensive backfield and on special teams, making four solo tackles on the year, while Leo moves over to defense after playing wide out his first three years. Darnell did not see action as a junior in 2013.
 
Bowers, who appeared in all 14 games as a sophomore with three starts, finished with 26 total tackles, 19 solo and he intercepted a pass that he returned 61 yards for a touchdown in the win over Rhode Island. He also had two pass deflections, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
 
Fulmore appeared in one game as a freshman, making two solo stops and breaking up a pass break against Columbia. Roche and Samela did not see action in 2013.
 
Newcomers to the defensive backfield include freshmen Caleb Ham, Marcus Hicks, and Vincent Sansone.
 
Ham is a graduate of Union Grove High School in McDonough, Georgia, where he was a 2013 All Sub-Region Athlete and 2013 All-Southern Crescent Athlete and was named Second Team All-County at wide receiver as a senior.
 
Hicks, a graduate of Old Mill Senior High School in Millersville, Maryland, was twice named All-Maryland Big School All-State and he was a two-time First Team All-Capital Gazette and First Team All-Anne Arundel County selection.
 
Sansone played football at Cheshire High School in Cheshire, Connecticut, where he started three years as a defensive back, averaging over seven tackles a game.