8 Harlon Hill Trophy finalists named for 2019 DII football player of the year

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Following regional voting, the Little Rock Touchdown Club, in conjunction with the Great American Conference, revealed the eight finalists for the 2019 Harlon Hill Trophy, the NCAA Division II College Football Player of the Year.

The NCAA Division II sports information directors selected the finalists through a round of regional voting. The eight finalists will now be placed on the national ballot where all 184 of the division’s school and conference SIDs will select the award’s 34th winner. The top two players from the four Super Regions advanced to the national ballot. Three quarterbacks, three running backs, one wide receiver and a defensive end comprised the list of 2019 finalists.

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Notre Dame College sophomore running back Jaleel McLaughlin and Slippery Rock senior quarterback Roland Rivers III advanced from Super Region #1.

Lenoir-Rhyne senior defensive end Jaquan Artis and Valdosta State junior quarterback Rogan Wells moved on from Super Region #2.

From Super Region #3, Central Missouri quarterback Brook Bolles and Harding junior running back Cole Chancey earned spots on the national ballot from Super Region #3.

Two seniors, Minnesota State running back Nate Gunn and Tarleton State wide receiver Zimari Manning garnered the two finalist slots from Super Region #4.

McLaughlin and Wells repeated as Harlon HIll Award finalists. Wells finished second in the voting to Ferris State’s Jayru Campbell while McLaughlin placed third. Bolles previously advanced to the final voting stage in 2017

All eight of the finalists helped guide their teams into the 2019 NCAA Division II playoffs and four — McLaughlin, Rivers III, Artis and Gunn — ;will compete in this weekend’s quarterfinal matchups.

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The winner of the 2019 award will be announced on Friday, Dec. 20 and the winner will be honored at the Little Rock Touchdown Club awards banquet on Jan. 9, 2020.

The Hill Trophy is named for the late Harlon Hill — the former University of North Alabama standout — who excelled with the Lions from 1950-53 before going on to fame in the National Football League with the Chicago Bears.