LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Little Rock Touchdown Club and Wright Lindsey Jennings released the list of finalists for the Cliff Harris Award, given to the top defensive player across Division II, Division III and NAIA. Notre Dame College's Nathan Moore advanced and now has a chance to be named the country's small college defensive player of the year. (Release)
 
Moore, the 2022 Mountain East Conference Defensive Player of the Year, becomes the second Falcon in program history to earn a spot among the finalists, after linebacker Guam Lee made the cut for this award last season.
 
The 2022 Cliff Harris Award winner will be announced on Dec. 30 and honored at the Little Rock Touchdown Club's award banquet on Jan. 13.
 
Throughout NCAA Division II in 2022, the Rootstown High School product was sixth in the country in both total tackles (122) and solo tackles (70). In the MEC, he ranked second in tackles, second in solo tackles and is tied second with 15 tackles for loss. This season, he became the leader in NDC program history in career solo (207), career assisted (172) and career total tackles (379). He now sits in second place in conference history for career tackles.
 
The award is named in honor of former Dallas Cowboy great Cliff Harris, an Arkansas native who was offered only one college scholarship to then-NAIA Ouachita Baptist University. Harris was passed over for the 1970 NFL draft. He signed a free agent contract with the Cowboys and then helped lead Dallas to five Super Bowl appearances during the next decade. The hard-hitting Harris played in six Pro Bowls and changed the way the position of free safety was played and was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in the summer of 2021.