Hawks ranked in D3football.com preseason poll

MINNEAPOLIS – The Huntingdon football team will enter the 2016 season as a Top-25 team.

The Hawks are ranked 24th with the release of the D3football.com preseason Top 25 poll on Tuesday. Although the Hawks have previously been ranked in D3football.com's regular-season polls, this is the first time Huntingdon has been ranked in the preseason poll. The Hawks were ranked 25th in the final D3football.com poll last season.

Defending national champion Mount Union (15-0) received 18 first-place votes and is ranked No. 1. Linfield (12-1) received three-first-place votes and is second, third-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater (12-2) earned three first-place votes and fourth-ranked St. Thomas (14-1) picked up one first-place vote.

Huntingdon is coming off the most successful season in program history. In 2015, the Hawks posted their first 10-win season with a 10-2 record, won their first conference title, advanced to the NCAA playoffs for the second time and won their first playoff game.

Huntingdon defeated Hendrix College 38-27 in the first round of the playoffs before losing to 10th-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor 43-23 in the second round.

The performance helped Huntingdon earn a spot in the final rankings of two national polls. In addition to climbing into the D3football.com national rankings, the Hawks were also ranked 24th in the final American Football Coaches Association poll in December. The AFCA's first poll for 2016 will be released in September.

To view the entire D3football.com poll, click here.