(Editor's note: Montana Western athletics release)
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Little Rock Touchdown Club and Wright Lindsey Jennings announced the finalists for the sixth annual Cliff Harris Award. The award is presented to the nation's top small college defensive player representing more than 5,000 defensive players from almost 500 NCAA Division II, Division III and NAIA colleges and universities.
Montana Western senior linebacker Jason Ferris was named a finalist.
Ferris is a linebacker from Dillon and a 2015 graduate of Beaverhead County High School. He led the Frontier Conference with 125 tackles, 9.5 tackles-for-loss, 15 passes defended, three interceptions, two sacks, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. He is third in the nation in tackles per game, averaging 12.5. He was a first-team all-conference choice, the Frontier Conference defensive player of the year and a first-team all-American selected by both the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and NAIA.
Ferris is majoring in natural horsemanship and business.
The Cliff Harris Award-winner will be announced Dec. 23, then honored at the Little Rock Touchdown Club's annual awards banquet on Jan. 9, 2020. The winner will receive the $3,000 Cliff Harris Award trophy presented by Cliff Harris. In addition to the overall winner, the top vote-getters from each division will also be announced. A prestigious group of former college and pro football greats serve on the Cliff Harris Award Committee.
