ORLANDO - Samford University quarterback and Northwest alumnus Michael Hiers will show his skills on the national stage this weekend, competing in the Trillion Tropical Bowl.

Hiers was one of 156 NCAA football student-athletes selected for this year's showcase, which will be held this Saturday at 11 A.M. Central time.

In his two seasons at Samford, Hiers has guided the Bulldogs to national prominence, including a Southern Conference championship and a trip to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs in 2022. The Birmingham native and 2022 SoCon Offensive Player of the Year received all-American accolades by Stats Perform and the Associated Press last season, after completing 353-of-461 passes for 3,544 yards and a program record-tying 36 touchdowns. 

Last season, Hiers was also ranked top 10 nationally in several offensive categories, including completion percentage (1st; 76.6 percent), completions per game (3rd), passing efficiency, passing touchdowns (4th), passing yards (6th), points responsible for (6th) and points responsible per game (7th). Additionally, he finished fourth in the voting for the Walter Payton Award.

Although Samford finished 6-5 in 2023, Hiers still passed for more than 3,000 yards and completed 315 of his 442 pass attempts, for a 71.2 completion percentage and 18 touchdowns. His season-best performance came in the Bulldogs' season-opener against Shorter, where he completed 28-of-35 passes for five touchdowns. Hiers also completed 42 of his 50 pass attempts for 399 yards in a victory against East Tennessee State on September 30.

Prior to Samford, Hiers spent two seasons at Northwest, helping the Rangers to the 2020 National Community College Football Championship and back-to-back MACCC titles (2020-21). In 18 total games with the Rangers, Hiers completed 65 percent of his passes, throwing for 4,519 yards, 34 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He ranks fifth in career passing yards and remains one of only four Northwest quarterbacks to throw for 3,000 yards in a season, joining the likes of Russell Evans, NFL quarterback Gardner Minshew and current Southern Miss head coach Will Hall.

Hiers also accounted for 4,496 yards of total offense at Northwest, ranking fifth in that category. He is also tied for the longest pass completion in program history, a 95-yard strike to current North Texas receiver D.T. Sheffield in a 2021 road contest at Coahoma.

Created in 2016, the Tropical Bowl was previously held at Florida International University and FIU Stadium, before relocating to Spec Martin Stadium (DeLand, Fla.) and Daytona Beach, Fla., before settling on its current home in Orlando. According to the Tropical Bowl website, over 350 Tropical Bowl alumni have gone on to the NFL since the game's inception.

The Trillion Tropical Bowl will be broadcast on pay-per-view, which can be accessed here.