SEARCY – Senior linebacker Jermaine Blachard was chosen as the Harding football team's most valuable player for the 2010 season by the Little Rock Touchdown Club. Blanchard will be honored with other college and high school players from around the state of Arkansas on Thursday, Jan. 27, during a banquet at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Little Rock.

A native of Memphis, Tenn., Blanchard was a dominating force on the Harding defensive line. Blanchard, a 1st Team All-Gulf South Conference honoree, played in all 10 games for the Bisons and led the team with 13.5 tackles for loss, including 9.0 sacks. Blanchard led a Harding defense that set a school record with 43 sacks and led NCAA Division II with 4.30 sacks per game.

At 6-1, 220 pounds, Blanchard completed his four-year Harding career with 204 tackles, including 30.0 tackles for loss and 14.5 sacks. His tackles-for-loss total is tied for sixth in a Bison career, and his sack total is tied for 13th.

Each year, the Little Rock Touchdown Club honors a most valuable player from each of the 11 college football programs in Arkansas – the University of Arkansas, Arkansas State University, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, the University of Central Arkansas, the University of Arkansas at Monticello, Arkansas Tech University, Harding University, Henderson State University, Ouachita Baptist University, Southern Arkansas University and Arkansas Baptist College.

Tickets can be ordered online at www.LRTouchdown.com.

For more information, contact the club's executive director, Kelly Lasseigne, at info@lrtouchdown.com or at (501) 590-3529.

The awards banquet is sponsored by Metropolitan National Bank, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and Chesapeake Energy.