Central College football free safety Zach Matter has been announced as a nominee for the 2016 Cliff Harris Award.

It’s presented to the nation’s top small college defensive player from an NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III or NAIA school. Matter is one of 60 finalists from Division III and one of 145 finalists overall.

From his free safety position, Matter had an astounding 13 pass break ups in addition to his team-high three interceptions in 2016. The first-team all-Iowa Conference selection was sixth on the Dutch roster with 58 tackles, including 30 solo stops.

The Cliff Harris Award finalists will be announced in two weeks and the winner of this year’s award will be announced on December 24th and honored at the Little Rock Touchdown Club’s annual awards banquet in January.