D2Football.com Honors Four Bisons; Simmons Named Coach of the Year

SEARCY – National champion Harding added more awards to its ledger Thursday as D2Football.com released its postseason honors, tabbed the Elite 100.

Head coach Paul Simmons received the website's National Coach of the Year honor after leading the Bisons to a 15-0 record and the school's first national championship.

Senior defensive end Nathaniel Wallace, the Great American Conference and Super Region 3 Defensive Player of the Year, added another First Team honor. He finished the season with 10.5 tackles for loss, including 9.0 sacks.

The website listed three Harding players as squad members—junior running back Blake Delacruz, senior offensive lineman Hunter Willis, and sophomore all-purpose Braden Jay.

Delacruz rushed for a school-record 1,508 yards, Willis helped Harding become the first team in college football history with more than 6,000 rushing yards, and Jay rushed for 1,075 yards, had a team-high 168 receiving yards and added 240 return yards for 1,483 all-purpose yards.

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Players Mentioned

#26 Blake Delacruz: RB; 5' 8"; Junior

#7 Braden Jay: RB; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#32 Nathaniel Wallace: DL; 6' 2"; Senior

#74 Hunter Willis: OL; 6' 2"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#26 Blake Delacruz
: 5' 8"; Junior
: RB

#7 Braden Jay
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: RB

#32 Nathaniel Wallace
: 6' 2"; Senior
: DL

#74 Hunter Willis
: 6' 2"; Senior
: OL