THE NATIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT OF WINNER HARLON HILL For IMMEDIATE RELEASE - December 18, 2015 AWARD CONTACT: JEFF HODGES - (256) 765-4595 COMMITTEE Florence, Alabama JASON VANDER LAAN WINS 2015 HILL TROPHY (256) 765-4595 AS DIVISION II FOOTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR [email protected] Jeff Hodges • Chairman FLORENCE, Ala. -- Ferris State (Mich.) University senior quarterback Jason Vander Laan has claimed the Harlon Hill Trophy for the second straight year as the Division II College Football Player of the Year. Vander Laan received 217 total points and more than doubled the point total of 107 by running back Ja'Quan Gardner of Humboldt State University, who finished second. Colorado State University-Pueblo senior running backCameron McDondle finished third at 90. The award winner is determined in voting by the Division II sports informa- tion directors and Vander Laan's 217 point total marked just the second time in the last seven years that the Hill Trophy winner received 200 points or more. It is also the fourth highest vote total by a winner in the Hill Trophy's 30-year history. National Sponsors Vander Laan was on 89 of the 101 total ballots cast and received 51 first place votes. Vander Laan won the 2014 Hill Trophy by a narrow nine-point margin. He is just the fourth student-athlete in the 30-year history of the Hill Trophy to win it more than once, joining Texas A&M-Kingsville running back Johnny Bailey (1987, 1988, 1989), Valdosta State quarterback Dusty Bonner (2000, 2001) and Chadron State running back Danny Woodhead (2006-07). The Hill Trophy will be presented to Vander Laan on Friday, January 8 at a ceremony on the campus of the University of North Alabama, Hill's alma mater. The Harlon Hill Trophy is sponsored by the City of Florence, Opti-Net, Herff Jones and the Marriott Shoals Hotel and Spa. Vander Laan, from Frankfort, Ill., completed his senior season with 4,167 yards of total offense after rushing for 1,542 and passing for 2,625. His 347.3 yards of total offense per game rank sixth nationally and he is ninth in rushing at 128.5. He rushed for 24 touchdowns and threw for another 27 to rank second in Division II in points responsible for wit 25.5 per game. He completed 210 of 320 passes with just seven interceptions and ranked ninth nationally in passing efficiency with a 158.0 rating. Among his numerous honors this season, Vander Laan has been named Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year , D2 Conference Commissioners Association Super Region Four Offensive Player of the Year, first- team AFCA All-American and CoSIDA Division II Football Academic All-America® of the Year. Following Vander Laan, Gardner and McDondle in the voting were Emporia State senior quarterback Brent Wilson (58), East Stroudsburg senior quarterback Matt Soltes (58), North Alabama senior quarterback Luke Wingo (33), Shepherd senior quarterback Jeff Ziemba (30) and Carson-Newman senior running back Damian Baker (13). * * * The Hill Trophy is named for a former University of North Alabama player - the late Harlon Hill - who was a standout with the Lions from 1950-53 before going on to fame in the National Football League with the Chicago Bears. North Dakota State quarterback Jeff Bentrim won the initial Hill Trophy in 1986, before Texas A&M-Kingsville running back Johnny Bailey won three straight Hill trophies from 1987-89. Another North Dakota State quarterback, Chris Simdorn, claimed the 1990 award, followed by Pittsburg State's Ronnie West in 1991 and Ronald Moore in 1992, New Haven running back Roger Graham in 1993, Valdosta State quar- terback Chris Hatcher in 1994, North Alabama linebacker Ronald McKinnon in 1995 , Truman State running back Jarrett Anderson in 1996, Bloomsburg running back Irvin Sigler in 1997, Emporia State running back Brian Shay in 1998 , Northern Colorado quarterback Corte McGuffey in 1999, Valdosta State quarterback Dusty Bonner in 2000 and 2001, and Grand Valley State quarterback Curt Anes in 2002. University of North Alabama senior quarterback Will Hall claimed the trophy in 2003. Colorado-Mines quarterback Chad Friehauf took the trophy in 2004, East Stroudsburg's Jimmy Terwilliger in 2005, Chadron State's Danny Woodhead in 2006 and 2007 and Abilene Christian's Bernard Scott in 2008. Wayne State (Mich.) running back Joique Bell won the 2009 Hill Trophy, followed by Central Missouri quarterback Eric Czerniewski in 2010, Mars Hill running back Jonas Randolph in 2011, Shippensburg State quarterback Zach Zulli in 2012, Bloomsburg running back Franklyn Quiteh in 2013 and Vander Laan in 2014. 2015 HILL VOTE TOTALS TOTAL 1st 2nd 3rd Points Player Place Place Place 217 Jason Vander Laan JR QB Ferris State 51 26 12 107 Ja'Quan Gardner SO RB Humboldt State 14 21 23 90 Cameron McDondle SR RB Colorado State-Pueblo 14 15 18 58 Brent Wilson SR QB Emporia State 7 10 17 58 Matt Soltes SR QB East Stroudsburg 6 12 16 33 Luke Wingo SR QB North Alabama 5 5 8 30 Jeff Ziemba SR QB Shepherd 3 8 5 13 Damian Baker SR RB Carson-Newman 1 4 2 * 101 total ballots cast ALL-TIME HARLON HILL WINNERS Year Player Pos. School Point Total 1986 Jeff Bentrim QB North Dakota State University 133 1987 Johnny Bailey RB Texas A&M University-Kingsville 106 1988 Johnny Bailey RB Texas A&M University-Kingsville 158 1989 Johnny Bailey RB Texas A&M University-Kingsville 182 1990 Chris Simdorn QB North Dakota State University 123 1991 Ronnie West WR Pittsburg State University 109 1992 Ronald Moore RB Pittsburg State University 148 1993 Roger Graham RB University of New Haven 160 1994 Chris Hatcher QB Valdosta State University 209 1995 Ronald McKinnon LB University of North Alabama 188 1996 Jarrett Anderson TB Truman State University 207 1997 Irvin Sigler TB Bloomsburg University 208 1998 Brian Shay RB Emporia State University 303 1999 Corte McGuffey QB Northern Colorado 205 2000 Dusty Bonner QB Valdosta State University 156 2001 Dusty Bonner QB Valdosta State University 209 2002 Curt Anes QB Grand Valley State University 271 2003 Will Hall QB University of North Alabama 150 2004 Chad Friehauf QB Colorado School of Mines 194 2005 Jimmy Terwilliger QB East Stroudsburg University 121 2006 Danny Woodhead RB Chadron State College 187 2007 Danny Woodhead RB Chadron State College 175 2008 Bernard Scott RB Abilene Christian University 253 2009 Joique Bell RB Wayne State (Mich.) 138 2010 Eric Czerniewski QB University of Central Missouri 164 2011 Jonas Randolph RB Mars Hill College 120 2012 Zach Zulli QB Shippensburg University 202 2013 Franklyn Quiteh RB Bloomsburg University 182 2014 Jason Vander Laan QB Ferris State University 152 2015 Jason Vander Laan QB Ferris State University 217 ALL-TIME TOP THREE FINISHERS BY POSITION 1st 2nd 3rd Quarterbacks 46 14 19 13 Running Backs 37 14 10 13 Receivers 5 1 2 2 Linebackers 1 1 0 1 ALL-TIME CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN OF HILL FINALISTS Conference 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th Total Gulf South 5 4 4 1 3 6 3 3 5 34 Pennsylvania State 4 2 4 3 8 5 3 3 2 34 Great Lakes Intercollegiate 4 3 2 0 6 1 7 2 0 26 Lone Star 4 2 3 2 4 2 5 2 1 24 North Central 3 3 6 3 3 2 2 2 0 24 South Atlantic 1 0 0 5 0 2 2 3 0 13 Mid-America Intercollegiate 5 3 2 3 0 2 1 3 1 10 Rocky Mountain 3 1 1 0 0 2 1 2 0 10 Western Football 0 1 1 2 1 1 0 2 0 9 Mountain East/WVIAC 0 2 1 2 1 0 1 0 0 7 Southern Intercollegiate 0 2 0 1 0 1 2 1 0 7 Central Intercollegiate 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 5 Northern Sun 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 2 0 6 Northeast 10 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 5 Great American 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 Great Northwest 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Eastern Football 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Columbia 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 Independent 1 2 2 5 1 1 2 1 1 16 Hill Voting and Records, 1986-15 Winning Vote Totals 152 2014 Jason Vander Laan Ferris State Pts Year Player School 150 2003 Will Hall North Alabama 133 1986 Jeff Bentrim North Dakota State 148 1992 Ronald Moore Pittsburg State 106 1987 Johnny Bailey Texas A&M-Kingsville 138 2009 Joique Bell Wayne State 158 1988 Johnny Bailey Texas A&M-Kingsville *138 2012 Michael Hill Missouri Western St. 182 1989 Johnny Bailey Texas A&M-Kingsville 133 1986 Jeff Bentrim North Dakota State 123 1990 Chris Simdorn North Dakota State *125 1988 Chris Crawford Portland State 109 1991 Ronnie West Pittsburg State 123 1990 Chris Simdorn North Dakota State 148 1992 Ronald Moore Pittsburg State *123 1994 Roger Graham New Haven 160 1993 Roger Graham New Haven *122 2007 Bernard Scott Abilene Christian 209 1994 Chris Hatcher Valdosta State *121 1992 Shawn Graves Wofford Collge 188 1995 Ronald McKinnon North Alabama 121 2005 Jimmy Terwilliger East Stroudsburg 207 1996 Jarrett Anderson Truman State 120 2011 Jonas Randolph Mars Hill 208 1997 Irvin Sigler Bloomsburg *118 1998 Corte McGuffey Northern Colorado 303 1998 Brian Shay Emporia State *112 1993 Tyrone Rush North Alabama 205 1999 Corte McGuffey Northern Colorado 109 1991 Ronnie West Pittsburg State 156 2000 Dusty Bonner Valdosta State *107 2000 Justin Coleman Nebraska-Kearney 209 2001 Dusty Bonner Valdosta State *107 2015 Ja'Quan Gardner Humboldt State 271 2002 Curt Anes Grand Valley State *106 1986 Johnny Bailey Texas A&M-Kingsville 150 2003 Will Hall North Alabama 106 1987 Johnny Bailey Texas A&M-Kingsville 194 2004 Chad Friehauf Colorado-Mines #106 1992 John Charles Portland State 121 2005 Jimmy Terwilliger East Stroudsburg * Finished Second 187 2006 Danny Woodhead Chadron State # Finished Third 175 2007 Danny Woodhead Chadron State 253 2008 Bernard Scott Abilene Christian Schools With Multiple Hill Winners 138 2009 Joique Bell Wayne State 164 2010 Eric Czerniewski Central Missouri Texas A&M-Kingsville