HARLON HILL TROPHY PRESENTATION

QB won't sweat trophy tension

Kevin Rodgers of Henderson State is the state’s all-time collegiate passing leader, and today he could become the first player from an Arkansas university to win the Harlon Hill Trophy.
Kevin Rodgers of Henderson State is the state’s all-time collegiate passing leader, and today he could become the first player from an Arkansas university to win the Harlon Hill Trophy.

Kevin Rodgers doesn't have any idea whether his chances of winning the Harlon Hill Trophy are any better today than in the past two years.

He knows one thing, though. Watching the ceremony will be a lot more comfortable this year.

Harlon Hill Trophy

WHEN 2 p.m. Central

ONLINE Harlonhill.com

FINALISTS

KEVIN RODGERS QB, Henderson State

ANTHONY ABENOJA QB, Pittsburg State

ANTHONY BILAL RB, Lake Erie

ANDY HIBBETT RB, Carson-Newman

STEVEN LAURINO QB, LIU-Post

SEAN MCCARTNEY QB, West Chester

MARK MILLER QB, Ohio Dominican

TYLER SULLIVAN QB, Delta State

JASON VANDER LAAN QB, Ferris State

Prolific passer

• Kevin Rodgers has passed for more yards than any college quarterback in Arkansas. He is also a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy for the third consecutive season.

YEAR;GM;ATT.-COMP-INT;YARDS;TD

2014;7;427-283-11;3,602;34

2013;11;467-322-12;4,807;40

2012;12;409-271-12;4,002;41

2011;11215-134-10;1,267;9

TOTALS;41;1,518-1,010-45;13,678;124

Last year Rodgers was one of three finalists for the Harlon Hill, given annually to the top NCAA Division II player in the country. He flew to Florence, Ala., the site of the Division II title game, put on a tuxedo and prepared a speech in case he won.

He didn't. Instead the award went to Bloomsburg running back Franklyn Quiteh and Rodgers finished third.

Rodgers won't have to worry about any pressure when the award is announced at 2 p.m. today.

Instead of a banquet hall in Alabama, he'll be with his parents and girlfriend at his home in Rockwall, Texas. They'll watch a live stream of the announcement online while eating a steak dinner.

"It'll cut down on the nerves," said Rodgers, who was a finalist for the award in 2012 but wasn't among the top three invited to the ceremony. "You're not sitting there with those other two great athletes. You're not thinking about your speech and all the ways you can screw it up."

Whether Rodgers becomes the first player from an Arkansas school to win the award or not, he'll go down as one of the state's most successful quarterbacks.

He finished his career as the state's all-time leading collegiate passer with 13,678 yards. In 41 games, he completed 66.5 percent of his passes and threw 124 touchdowns with only 45 interceptions.

He finished fifth all-time at Division II in passing yards and third with 124 touchdowns. He eclipsed 300 yards passing in 26 of 41 games he played while Henderson State was 35-7 over that span, with two Great American Conference titles and two Division II playoff appearances.

"Oh, man," Rodgers said when asked to put his career into perspective. "I was attached to Henderson State immediately. I caught that Reddie spirit, so to speak. I wanted to see our school put on the map.

"A lot of people didn't know about Henderson State, especially where I'm from. I wanted to help make that happen."

Rodgers can certainly stake his claim as a catalyst for the Reddies' ascent into Division II relevancy.

The Reddies won a share of the Gulf South Conference title in 2010, but had won more than seven games in a season only once since moving to Division II in 1992. Rodgers took over as part-time starter in 2011, when they finished 6-4, but as a full-time starter they went 10-1 in 2012, 11-1 in 2013 and 9-2 in 2014.

Each year they spent the majority of the weeks nationally ranked, reached the playoffs in 2012 and 2013, and would have likely made them this season if not for a 41-20 season-ending loss to rival Ouachita Baptist on Nov. 15.

That loss turned out to be Rodgers' final game for the Reddies.

"It's disappointing for us because we've set those high standards for conference championships and national playoffs," he said. "But I think we should look at the big picture as a whole and look at what we've done as a senior class and as a program, for Henderson State and the conference."

Rodgers graduated with a degree in finance in December 2013, but he's put graduate courses on hold to pursue a potential pro career. He'll play in an all-star game in South Carolina next month, and he and Reddies wide receiver Darius Davis will play in another in Mexico.

Before that comes today, when he and his family will see if he's chosen as Division II's best player, recognition that Rodgers will deflect to his teammates if it comes.

"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for those guys," he said. "So, kudos to those guys."

Sports on 12/19/2014

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