One of the greatest seasons of football in NCAA History will be capped by the top honor available to Division III Football Athletes.

Central Dutch Quarterback Blaine Hawkins won the Gagliardi Trophy, regarded as the Heisman-equivalent for DIII athletes, and is the National College Football Player of the Year in that division.

The award is presented by Jostens and the J-Club of Saint John’s University (Minn.) to the nation’s most outstanding NCAA Division III football player.

Already a first-team AFCA Division III All-America honoree and also a second-team CoSIDA Academic All-American®, 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.

The other finalists were defensive back/punter/return specialist Jefferson Fritz of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas); wide receiver Andrew Kamienski of North Central College (lll.), quarterback Wyatt Smith of Linfield University (Ore.) and quarterback Gavin Zimbelman of Aurora University (Ill.).