And The Winner Is??? Alexander King, Division II Analyst This time of the year there are only two races on the mind of the die-hard D2 football fan. The first is the National Championship race and the second is the race for the Harlon Hill trophy. Since the trophy’s inception in 1986, only 19 players have earned the award. The Heisman look alike is given annually to the NCAA DII football player of the year. Thus far the Hill committee has voted a field of nine finalist down to three; senior linebacker Michael Eubanks of Delta State University, senior running back Danny Woodhead of Chadron State College, and junior running back Bernard Scott of Abilene Christian University. Eubanks is known for his strength, speed, and tenacity. He established a new all time record of quarterback sacks with 39 for 249 yards. He also amassed 70.5 career tackles for loss and is ranked third in the history of DII football in this category. This season’s numbers were an impressive 90 tackles, 12 sacks and 27 tackles for loss. His efforts have contributed to NCAA recognition of Delta State’s defensive squad as one of the top five defensive units in DII football for the second straight year. Eubanks is only the second defensive player to make it this far in the hunt for the award. Scott is a virtual scoring machine with 39 touchdowns on the season. Thirty-five of the touchdowns were rushing scores. He scored 234 points this season while rushing for 2,165 yards. Scott scored three touchdowns a game with remarkable, 9 out of 10 games, consistency. He is the second finalist from Abilene Christian University to earn this honor. Our third finalist is no stranger to the Harlon Hill trophy. Woodhead was last year’s Harlon Hill award winner and is trying to become the third person in the awards 22 year history to garner the honor twice. Woodhead finished his career with 7,962 yards and 9,479 all purpose yards, placing him second in all NCAA Divisions. He has 109 career touchdowns, tying the NCAA record. This year Woodhead rushed for 1,876 yards and 24 touchdowns. As amazing as his numbers are, they were hampered by a mid-season injury, otherwise, he might very well have surpassed 2000 yards this season. Woodhead has been a Hill finalist for four straight years. Harlon Hill Trophy Winners 1986 - North Dakota State quarterback Jeff Bentrim 1987 - Texas A&M-Kingsville running back Johnny Bailey 1988 - Texas A&M-Kingsville running back Johnny Bailey 1989 - Texas A&M-Kingsville running back Johnny Bailey 1990 - North Dakota State quarterback Chris Simdorn, 1991 - Pittsburg State receiver Ronnie West 1992 - Pittsburg State running back Ronald Moore 1993 - New Haven running back Roger Graham 1994 - Valdosta State University quarterback Chris Hatcher 1995 - North Alabama linebacker Ronald McKinnon in 1996 - Truman State University running back Jarrett Anderson 1997 - Bloomsburg University running back Irvin Sigler 1998 - Emporia State Running back Brian Shay 1999 - Northern Colorado quarterback Corte McGuffey 2000 - Valdosta State quarterback Dusty Bonner 2001 - Valdosta State quarterback Dusty Bonner 2002 - Grand Valley State quarterback Curt Anes 2003 - North Alabama quarterback Will Hall 2004 - Colorado School of Mines quarterback Chad Friehauf 2005 - East Stroudsburg quaterback Jimmy Terwilliger 2006 - Chadron State running back Danny Woodhead 2007 – ???? The winner of the 2007 award, which is presented by the National Harlon Hill Award Committee, will be announced Friday, Dec. 14 in Florence at the Harlon Hill Trophy and Division II Football Hall of Fame Banquet. The Banquet will take place the evening prior to the NCAA Division II Football Championship Game on Dec. 15. Questions? Comments?
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
