VALDOSTA, Ga. – Valdosta State senior quarterback Sammy Edwards finished fourth in the voting for the 2024 Harlon Hill Award, announced Friday by The Little Rock Touchdown Club, in conjunction with the Great American Conference.  Edwards also earned multiple All-America honors, as did graduate students Larry Elder and Will Flowers.
 
Central Missouri's Zach Zebrowski was announced as the winner as the Division II College Football Player of the Year.  Zebrowski received 177 total points, 25 points ahead of Charleston (W.Va.) running back Chavon Wright.  Ferris State quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and Edwards finished third and fourth, respectively.  Edwards and Chambliss will meet in Saturday's Division II National Championship game.
 
Division II Sports Information Directors act as the voting electorate for the award. A total of 107 SIDs participated in the final voting. The point system of three points for a first place vote, two for second and one for third determined the point total.
 
Zebrowski threw for 4,724 yards to lead all of college football. He added 40 touchdowns to pace Division II. He amassed 5,323 yards of total offense, more than 1,500 more yards than the closest competitor. He added 10 rushing touchdowns to become the first player with at least 40 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns since Augustana's Trey Heid, in 2016. He has thrown for 101 touchdowns - against only 17 interceptions - in his last two seasons.
 
He becomes the fifth repeat winner of the Harlon Hill Trophy. He joins Texas A&M Kingsville's Johnny Bailey (1987-89), Valdosta State's Dusty Bonner (2000-01), Chadron State's Danny Woodhead (2006-07) and Ferris State's Jason Vander Laan (2014-15) as multiple-time Harlon Hill recipients.
 
Edwards, a native of Saint Augustine, Fla., earned multiple All-America honors this season as he was named D2 Conference Commissioner's Association (D2CCA) Second Team All-America and earned Second Team Associated Press All-America.  Edwards also was named Gulf South Conference Offensive Player of the Year this season as he has guided the team to an 11-0 record this season and a berth in the second-straight NCAA National Quarterfinals.  The Blazers are the only undefeated team in NCAA Division II. 
 
Edwards is 25-2 as a starting quarterback in two seasons as he is 12^th nationally and tops in the GSC currently in completion percentage at a .661 clip on 210 of 315 passing for 3,101 yards with 30 touchdowns and just two interceptions.  He set the GSC-record for consecutive pass attempts without an interception this season (195).  Edwards is third nationally in passing efficiency at 179.5, while he is sixth nationally in passing touchdowns (30) and tenth in passing yards (3,101).  He is 19^th nationally in passing yards per game at a 238.5 clip and tenth in points responsible for (204).  Edwards is sixth nationally in yards per pass attempt at a 9.64 clip and 24^th in total offense at 255.6 yards per game.
 
Elder and Flowers earned First Team AP All-America honors this week, while Flowers earned First Team D2CCA All-America and Elder was a second team honoree with Edwards.  Elder and Flowers also earned earlier this week First Team American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) All-America accolades.
 
Elder, a native of Richmond, Va., was named GSC Co-Defensive Player of the Year this season, as he leads the team with 93 total tackles and 53 solo stops. He has 11 tackles for loss for 52 yards to lead the team, while he has registered 3.5 sacks for 26 yards.  Elder has one interception with three pass breakups, one fumble return and four forced fumbles.  He earned GSC Defensive Player of the Week three times, while registering double-digit tackles twice.   He had a season-high 12 tackles at Delta State (11/9) and is part of a defense that currently is second nationally in scoring defense allowing just 11.0 points per game, while the team is ninth nationally in total defense allowing just 254.5 yards per game and sixth nationally in passing defense at just 131.5 yards allowed per contest.  The Blazers sit third in the league in rushing defense allowing just 122.9 yards per game. Individually, Elder is fifth in the GSC in solo tackles per game at a 4.0 clip, while he is fifth in the league in total tackles per game at a 7.0 clip.
 

Flowers, a native of LaGrange, Ga., earned All-Gulf South Conference First Team honors.  He has started all 13 games thus far at center for the Blazers earning first team all-league honors.  Flowers has over 40 knockdown blocks and has graded out at 97 percent for the season for the highest on the team.  He blocks for an offense that is tenth nationally in total offense at 459.2 yards per game, while it is the 20^thpassing offense at 252.5 yards per game and 13^th in rushing offense (206.8).  Not only do the Blazers excel in keeping points off the board, but also in putting points on the board as they are seventh nationally in scoring offense at 42.2 points per game.