14 DEFENDER | WEEK OF OCTOBER 20 | 2011 defendernetwork.com

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Adrian Hamilton:Pursuing QBs, SWAC record

By MAX EDISONDefender

Memo to SWAC quarterbacks; there is a QB stalker at large. He’s 6’3”, 255 lbs. and last seen in the vicinity of Prairie View.

He was last seen in a purple jersey with a large gold 45 prominently displayed front and back. At-tempt to block this man at your own risk. He is armed with a variety of moves and is extremely dangerous. If you are a quarterback in the Southwestern Athletic Conference be afraid, be very afraid.

That should be the warning on the locker room of all opponents of Prairie View this season. Senior Panther defensive end Adrian Hamilton is wreaking havoc on opposing QB’s amassing sacks at a record-setting pace.

In just seven games this season the Dallas native has an amazing 14.5 sacks. The NCAA Div. 1AA and conference record in one season (2002) is 20 estab-lished by former Alabama A&M star and current Colt Pro Bowler Robert Mathis.

Thanks to the relentless play of Hamilton and his defensive mates, the Panthers are 4-2 in confer-ence play (4-3 overall). They are in first place in the SWAC’s Western division, despite working in a redshirt quarterback (Jerry Lovelocke) and a host of young players.

Hamilton’s rise to prominence is no surprise to former defensive coordinator and first year head coach Heis Northern.

“He is just a relentless ballplayer,” Northern said. “He plays hard. He plays with passion. He plays with speed. He plays with aggression. He arrives at the football in a bad mood in a lot of instances.”

Hamilton deflects most of success to that of the overall team defense.

“Everybody’s playing their role on defense and its giving me opportunities to put pressure on the quar-terback and I’ve just taken advantage of it,” he said.

Hamilton, a transfer from Texas Tech, was guided to Prairie View through the positive recom-mendation of an instructor at Dallas Community College.

“I played at Tech for a year and a half, but had some academic issues,” Hamilton said. “I

went to Dallas Community College to get my grades up. I had a lot of choices to resume my football career, but there was a teacher at DCC that told me about Prairie View.”

“Growing up in Dallas my thought of PV was losing football,” he continued. “The instructor told me about how well they had been playing and the fact that they had just won the championship and that was enough for me to go there.”

A standout in high school at Dallas Carter, Ham-ilton not only leads the team and conference in sacks, but he leads the Panthers in tackles as well.

As a young player Hamilton patterned his game after former Carter All-American Jesse Armstead, who

played 11 years and was a five-time Pro-Bowler with the New York Giants.

“I look at Jesse because he came from my school. He was a great player that played with a lot of energy and intensity. I try and bring it like that every play. I know what Coach Northern expects.”

With four games remaining on the schedule, the Panthers are marching toward their second SWAC championship game appearance in the last three years. That also means Hamilton is on the fast track to breaking a record and winning a championship, a feat that would suit him just fine.

“The goal coming into the season was to win,” he said. “It’s come to my attention about the sack record and my pace toward it. It’s something I’d like to get. I’m going to shoot high. If I come up short at least I

know I gave it my all. The chance to win a championship and get

the record would be very special.”

Memo to QBs around the SWAC, Adrian Hamilton is still at large and he’s got a specific goal in

mind. Consider your-self warned.

PV defensive end Adrian Hamilton (45) is chasing the D1AA sack record

#45 Adrian Hamilton has been a nightmare for opposing quar-terbacks