Awards season has kept Hillsdale College senior Steven Embry busy.
Thursday night, he was joined by head coach Keith Otterbein in Dearborn, Michigan to accept the Merritt T. MacFarland Award as the top scholar-athlete at a Michigan-based NCAA Division II football program. The award was presented as part of the Detroit Free Press Football Awards Banquet.
Also honored were Michigan State's Max Bullough and Hope College's Michael Atwell. In addition to the college awards, the Detroit Free Press high school dream team was recognized. Former University of Colorado head coach Bill McCartney and recently retired Al Fracassa of Birmingham Brother Rice High School were honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards.
Embry enjoyed his finest season on the field in 2013 for the Chargers, leading all linebackers in the GLIAC with 4 interceptions. Those picks covered 79 yards and he scored one touchdown. He finished the season with 74 total tackles, and was recognized by the team with the Howard "Champ" Messenger Award and the Leonard Urbanick Award for Scholarship, Leadership and Ability.
Earlier this fall, Embry was named First-Team Academic All-District by the Collegiate Sports Information Directors of America and was a national semifinalist for the National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Award. He won the Division II version of the Michigan chapter of the NFF award Thursday night.
Former Charger football players Phil Doerfler, Keith Otterbein and John Cervini are past winners of this award. Otterbein's honor came following the 1978 season, exactly 35 years ago.
Embry is a biology major who carries a 3.6 overall grade point average.