LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Following regional voting, the Little Rock Touchdown Club, in conjunction with the Great American Conference, announced that sophomore Mario Anderson (Summerville, S.C.) was one of nine finalists for the 2022 Harlon Hill Trophy, the NCAA Division II College Football Player of the Year.
Anderson set the mark for running backs in the South Atlantic Conference this season on his way to earning Piedmont Division Offensive Player of the Year. He scampered for 1,560 yards while tallying 19 touchdowns, both which rank in the top-10 in the nation. He bettered the Newberry single season rushing record by more than 200 yards and sits third in career rushing yards with 3,301.
He posted the third and fourth highest rushing yards in a single game in back-to-back weeks as he rushed for 246 against Catawba before leading the Wolves to a victory over then #12 Lenoir-Rhyne with 243 yards on the ground. He set a new NCAA record for yards in a quarter with 201 posted against Lenoir-Rhyne in the fourth quarter of that contest. He rushed for over 100 yards in nine games this season, lifting his career total to 16 games. He also was able to score a touchdown in all but one game on the season.
Anderson ranks third in the country in rushing yards per game with 156, fifth in total rushing yards with 1,560, and sixth overall in rushing TDs with 19. He ranks tied for sixth in scoring, averaging 11.4 points per game and ranks fourth in the nation in yards per carry with 7.39. Overall, he ranks 10th in the country in all-purpose yards, averaging 158.5.
Mario becomes just the second Newberry student-athlete to be selected as a finalist for the prestigious award as Raleigh Yeldell picked up the honor back in 2016. He finished 9th in the polling. He is the fourth candidate that the Wolves have put forward with Josh Stepp (2006) and Vic Gilmore (1998) falling short of making the national ballot in their runs.
The NCAA Division II sports information directors selected the finalists through a round of regional voting. The nine finalists will now be placed on the national ballot where all 178 of the division's school and conference SIDs will select the award's 36th winner. The top two players from the four Super Regions advanced to the national ballot.
The winner of the 2022 award will be announced on Friday, December 16 and the winner will be honored at the Little Rock Touchdown Club awards banquet on Friday, January 13, 2023. The Hill Trophy is named for the late Harlon Hill - the former University of North Alabama standout - who excelled with the Lions from 1950-53 before going on to fame in the National Football League with the Chicago Bears.
