Complete List of Finalists (PDF)

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas - Northwest Missouri State senior defensive lineman Spencer Phillips has been announced as a finalist for the seventh annual Cliff Harris Award presented by The Little Rock Touchdown Club and Wright Lindsey Jennings.

Phillips is a senior defensive lineman from Tabor, Iowa. Phillips earned second-team All-America honors from the Associated Press and the D2CCA. Phillips was the 2019 MIAA Defensive Player of the Year and started all 14 games on the defensive line. Phillips earned first-team all-MIAA status. He led the MIAA in tackles-for-loss (15) and tied for second in the league in sacks (8.0). Phillips recovered a team-best three fumbles. Phillips registered 51 total tackles, was credited with eight quarterback hurries and recorded two safeties.

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. An overall winner will be announced on December 27 and honored at the Little Rock Touchdown Club's annual awards banquet on January 9, 2020 with special guest two time Heisman Trophy Winner Archie Griffin.

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. For the story of Cliff Harris go to www.CliffHarrisAward.com and read about his amazing journey from an overlooked high school player from tiny Des Arc, Arkansas, and one scholarship offer to then-NAIA Ouachita Baptist University to five Super Bowls and six Pro Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys.