There are at least 10,000 football players in NCAA Division II. All of them have dreams of glory and success on the gridiron when practice started in the sweltering days of August.
Today, nine are in the running for Division II's top honor, and Charger quarterback Chance Stewart is one of them.
Stewart, who just completed his career at Hillsdale College, is one of nine players in NCAA Division II named a finalist for the 2018 Harlon Hill Trophy, the Division II equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. The finalists were named by the Little Rock Touchdown Club, in conjunction with the Great American Conference Wednesday morning.
The other eight finalists are: Notre Dame College's Jaleel McLaughlin, Bowie State's Amir Hall, Valdosta State's Rogan Wells, Ferris State's Jayru Campbell, Emporia State's Braxton Marstall, Southern Arkansas' Ka'Ronce Higgins, Angelo State's Markus Jones and Sioux Falls' Gabriel Watson.
The winner of the 2018 Harlon Hill Trophy will be announced on December 14, and the winner will be honored at the Little Rock Touchdown Club awards banquet January 10.
The trophy is named after Harlon Hill, who played at the University of North Alabama from 1950-53 before playing for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League.
Stewart is the first Charger to be a finalist for the award since Joe Glendening in 2011.
Hillsdale's all-time leader in passing yards (10,064), Stewart put together an outstanding 2018 campaign in leading the Chargers to the 2018 Great Midwest Athletic Conference championship and the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs. His 3,588 passing yards ranked first in the G-MAC and set a new conference and school single-season record. That number currently ranks him third in all of NCAA Division II.
A big part of Stewart's effectiveness this year was his consistency. He completed at least 16 passes in all 13 of the team's games and never threw for fewer than 205 yards in any of those games. He hit a season-high of 450 yards passing in a 45-35 win at Malone Sept. 29 and is the only signal-caller in school history with two 400-yard passing games on his résumé. He threw for 627 yards in Hillsdale's two playoff games, a win at Kutztown and a loss at Notre Dame College. He finished his career with a 26-12 record as a starting quarterback, and set a new standard with 73 touchdown passes in his career.