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| Valdosta State wide receiver Gerald Ford was named a regional finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy, which is awarded to the nation's best Division II football player. (Ed Hooper | The Valdosta Daily Times) |
The honor for Ford came after a dominating regular season that saw him catch a team-high 52 passes for 836 yards with 12 touchdowns. Ford leads the Gulf South Conference in receiving yards per game at 92.9 and yards per catch at 16.1, along with scoring this season.
Ford was one of six players from Super Region 2, and one of 24 from across the country, nominated for the Harlon Hill Trophy.
The two players that receive the most votes from each of the four regions across the country will be invited to attend the Harlon Hill Trophy Presentation Banquet on Dec. 14 in Florence, Ala. The Division II National Championship Game will be played the following day in Florence's Braly Stadium, the home of VSU's conference rival North Alabama.
A New Orleans native that moved to Georgia after being displaced from his home due to Hurricane Katrina, Ford leads a deep receiving corps this season that features three players, including Ford, that have over 35 receptions and over 600 yards receiving this season. Fellow junior Seantavious Jones has 36 catches for 660 yards with 10 touchdowns, while junior Regginald Lewis is second on the team in receptions with 45 for 601 yards with four touchdowns this season.
Ford is one of five wide receivers nominated for the Harlon Hill Trophy this season. The other nominees from Super Region 2 are: Wingate receiver Chris Bowden, Lane linebacker Corey Jones, Miles quarterback David Thomas, West Alabama defensive end Ridge Wilson and Tuskegee running back Derrick Washington. Two of the six will move on to the banquet in December after voting by the regional sports information directors concludes Saturday.
If Ford is named this year's recipient of the Harlon Hill Trophy, he will become the third player at Valdosta State to win the award. Former Blazer quarterback and head coach Chris Hatcher, who coached VSU to the 2004 national championship, was named the 1994 winner of the Harlon Hill after throwing for 4,076 yards and 55 touchdowns that season.
Six years later, Dusty Bonner, a former Blazer QB, won after throwing for 4,126 yards and 55 touchdowns, tying Hatcher's Blazer and GSC record for TDs. Bonner, the transfer from the University of Kentucky, won the award again in 2001 after throwing for 4,037 yards with 55 touchdowns and leading the Blazers to a 12-1 record and an appearance in the Division II playoffs.
Lance Funderback, a Blazer quarterback, was named the 1996 runner-up of the Harlon Hill.
Current West Alabama head coach Will Hall was the last player from a Gulf South Conference school to win the Harlon Hill. Hall won the award in 2003 as a quarterback for the North Alabama Lions. Hall and the West Alabama Tigers could visit the Blazers in the second round of the Division II playoffs Nov. 24, if they beat Miles this weekend in Livingstone, Ala.
— Disclaimer: Sorry I didn't get this story up earlier. I was out running errands and just got around to sitting down at the computer. I did manage to tweet this information out when it became public knowledge. Follow me on Twitter at @Ed_Hooper.
This story will be updated with quotes from Ford and head coach David Dean and will be available in the Wednesday print edition of The Valdosta Daily Times.
