Florence, Ala.----Wingate University redshirt junior quarterback Cody Haffly (Locust Grove, Ga.) is one of 24 candidates in the running for the 2010 Harlon Hill Trophy as the NCAA Division II college football Player of the Year, the national Harlon Hill Award committee announces Friday. The list includes six players from each of Division II’s four Super Regions.
Players are nominated and voted on by the sports information directors at the 148 NCAA Division II football-playing institutions. The 24 initial candidates will be placed on regional ballots and the top two players from each of the four NCAA regions will advance to the national ballot when regional voting concludes on Nov. 19.
For the 2010 season, Haffly is 206-of-327 for 2887 yards and 27 touchdowns. He has 300-plus passing yards in seven of his nine games this season. On Oct. 24, Haffly completed 23-of-32 passes for 379 yards and a career-high (tying) five touchdowns as Wingate rallied for a 44-37 South Atlantic Conference road triumph versus Brevard College. The SAC Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts, Haffly helped the Bulldog offense score 35 second-half points to pick up the important victory.
Haffly has thrown five touchdown passes in a game three times this year, most recently in Wingate’s 48-29 victory over Mars Hill College Saturday. Haffly completed 17-of-27 passes for 321 yards and five scores as Wingate improved to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the SAC. The Mars Hill triumph assures the Bulldogs at least a share of the 2010 SAC regular season title, the first in school history.
Haffly leads the SAC in passing efficiency (158.90); he is 11th in the nation in the same category. The Luella High School product averages 310.7 yards per game total offense, second in the SAC to national leader and Tusculum sophomore QB Bo Cordell (426.8). In 2009, Haffly completed 179-of-314 passes for 2281 yards and 21 touchdowns. He had only six interceptions on the 2009 season. Haffly was third in the SAC in pass efficiency (136.3).
“Cody Haffly’s value to our team cannot be measured by statistics alone,” Wingate head coach Joe Reich says. “When the games get bigger, Cody gets better. When the games are more crucial, Cody gets sharper. He is very deserving of this recognition.”
The winner of the 2010 award, which is presented by the National Harlon Hill Award Committee, will be announced at the 25th annual Harlon Hill Trophy Presentation Banquet on Friday, Dec. 17 at the Florence Conference Center at 6:30 p.m. This year’s Hill Trophy Banquet will also include the 12th induction into the Division II Football Hall of Fame, with Ken Sparks (Carson-Newman), Mel Tjeerdsma (Northwest Missouri State) and Bobby Wallace (West Alabama) becoming the first coaches to be inducted.
The group of 24 candidates includes 15 quarterbacks, seven running backs, one receiver and one linebacker. There are 13 seniors, six juniors, three sophomores and two freshmen. Joining Haffly and Cordell as candidates from Super Region 2 is senior quarterback Nick Hardesty of Henderson State (Ark.) University, junior quarterback Stanley Jennings of Albany State (Ga.) University, junior running back Jonas Randolph of Mars Hill College and senior quarterback Deon Williams of the University of West Alabama.
Among the players vying for the 2010 award from the Super Regional 1 are senior
quarterback Zach Amedro from West Liberty (W.Va.) University, senior linebacker Matthew Freed of East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, sophomore quarterback Kevin Morton of Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, senior quarterback Josh Portis of California University of Pennsylvania, freshman running back Franklyn Quiteh of Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania and senior tailback Walter Sanders of St. Augustine’s College.
Super Regional 3 is represented by junior quarterback Clay Garcia of Colorado School of Mines, senior wide receiver Kyle Kaiser of the University of Nebraska-Kearney, junior tailback Jesse Lewis of Colorado State University-Pueblo, senior running back Phil Milbrath of Michigan Tech University, junior running back Josh Renel of Wayne State (Mich.) University and senior quarterback Troy Weatherhead of Hillsdale (Mich.) College.
Selected from Super Regional 4 are freshman running back Josh Birmingham of the University of Central Oklahoma, senior quarterback Blake Bolles of Northwest Missouri State University, senior quarterback Eric Czerniewski of the University of Central Missouri, senior quarterback Steve Gachette of Southwest Baptist (Mo.) University, sophomore quarterback Mitchell Gale of Abilene Christian (Texas) University and senior quarterback Taylor Harris of West Texas A&M University.
Among the 2010 contenders are three players who were also candidates a year ago. West Liberty’s Amedro was a national finalist in 2009. Randolph (Mars Hill) and Gachette (Southwest Baptist) were regional candidates last season. Haffly is Wingate’s first regional candidate since quarterback Brian Baughman in 1999. Bulldog running back Tracy Bowen finished seventh in the 1997 national balloting. Quarterback Vernon Buck was a regional candidate in 1994.
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