Highly decorated Central College quarterback Blaine Hawkins received another distinctive honor Tuesday, becoming the school’s 16th player named to the American Football Coaches Association Division III All-America team. An AFCA release indicated that Hawkins headlines the squad as a first-team selection.

Hawkins set an NCAA all-divisions record with 63 touchdown passes this season. In 13 games, he completed 331 of 468 passes (70.7%) for 4,475 yards and eight interceptions while posting a passing efficiency rating of 192.1. He also rushed for 230 yards and five touchdowns on 83 carries.

He was earlier named the American Rivers Offensive Player of the Year for the second time and is a finalist for the Gagliardi Trophy as the top player in Division III, which will be announced later this week. He was a first-team D3football.com all-region honoree and was also a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy as the nation’s top football scholar-athlete as chosen by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame. He was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team for the second time as well and is under consideration for Academic All-America® distinction.

In 2021, Hawkins led Division III in touchdown passes (63) and points responsible for (410) while ranking second in passing yards (4,475) and total offense (4,705 yards), third in passing efficiency (192.1), fourth in completion percentage (70.7) and fifth in yards per pass attempt (9.56).