Back-to-Back: Zach Zebrowski Wins Second Consecutive Harlon Hill Trophy

By UCM Athletics, December 20, 2024

UCM football quarterback Zach Zebrowski has won the 2025 Harlon Hill Trophy for the NCAA Division II Football Player of the Year.

 

For the second straight season, University of Central Missouri (UCM) Mules football quarterback Zach Zebrowski has won the Harlon Hill Trophy for the NCAA Division II Football Player of the Year, the Great American Conference and Little Rock Touchdown Club announced Friday morning, Dec. 20.

Zebrowski becomes the fifth repeat winner in the trophy’s history and the first since Ferris State quarterback Jason Vander Laan, who won the honor in 2014 and 2015. Zebrowski is the first-ever MIAA student-athlete to earn back-to-back Harlon Hill Trophy accolades.

Zebrowski is one of two UCM football student-athletes to ever win the honor, as former UCM standout All-America quarterback Eric Czerniewski took home the honor in 2010.

A redshirt senior from Woodbury, Minnesota, Zebrowski completed 372 out of 553 pass attempts with 4,724 passing yards and 40 passing touchdowns and added 599 rushing yards on 132 carries and 10 rushing touchdowns in 12 games, helping the Mules post an overall record of 9-3, including winning the Heritage Bowl, 39-37 in double overtime, over Texas Permian Basin Dec. 7 in Corsicana, Texas.

Zebrowski, an AFCA, AP and D2CCA First Team All-American and the D2CCA Ron Lenz Offensive Player of the Year, paced all of NCAA Division II in passing yards per game (393.7), passing yards (4,724), passing touchdowns (40), points responsible for (302) and total offense (443.6), and ranked second in completions per game (31).

His total offense of 443.6 yards per game, passing yards of 4,724 and passing yards per game of 393.7 are the most out of any division (FBS, FCS, II, III) in college football.

Zebrowski was named both the D2CCA Super Region III and MIAA Offensive Player of the Year and earned First Team D2CCA All-Super Region III and First Team All-MIAA accolades. In addition, he was a five-time MIAA Offensive Player of the Week and the Nov. 19 D2Football.com National Offensive Player of the Week.

Zebrowski ended his illustrious career as a Mule ranked second in career pass completions (789), touchdown passes (101), passing yards (9,881) and total offense (11,013 – 1,132 rush, 9,881 pass).

The sports information directors at the NCAA Division II football-playing institutions nominate and vote on the Harlon Hill Award. The 43 initial candidates were placed on regional ballots, with the top two players from each of the four NCAA regions advancing to the national ballot.

The winner was determined by a nationwide vote of NCAA Division II school and conference SIDs. The national voting process occurred Dec. 6-13.

The Harlon Hill Trophy is named for the late Harlon Hill – the former University of North Alabama (UNA) standout – who excelled with the Lions from 1950-53 before going on to fame in the National Football League with the Chicago Bears.