Warriors sending 8 players to college football
They battled back from broken bones to post stunning road victories over Iowa City High and Linn-Mar this season.
Now eight members of that talented and determined senior class at Cedar Rapids Washington will get a chance to play college football next season, and there could be a ninth or 10th player on a college team before it's over.
Seven of them sat on a long dais in the Washington cafeteria Wednesday afternoon, their parents at their side, to sign letters-of-intent and receive a final round of applause from their friends, teachers and fans.
In alphabetical order they are Sean Bredl, Ryan Cain, Will Griffin, Flynn Heald, Paul Nash, Michael Peterson, David Tann and McCauley Todd. Heald sat in the audience, rather than at the main table, because there's been a slight delay in his paperwork, but he plans to sign with William & Mary this week.
Braedon Tovey could become the ninth Warrior from this year's club to play in college with Central College and Simpson in the picture. Tyler Burrell and Stohrm Henry could make it 10 or 11 Warriors from this senior class on a college football team next season, but they apparently will skip sports in college and concentrate on their studies.
"This has been, by far, the deepest team I've had here," said Washington Coach Tony Lombardi. "It was a wonderful team, a wonderful ensemble."
Three of the Warriors will be playing their college football in Iowa. Tann is joining the Iowa Hawkeyes as a preferred walk-on, Peterson is headed to Drake and Nash is going to Iowa Western Community College.
Three of them are heading west with Todd going to Montana, Cain to North Dakota and Bredl to South Dakota. Griffin will be joining Winona State in Minnesota and Heald is headed to school in Virginia.
It's rare for any high school to send eight players to college programs in one year, but these guys love the game and enjoyed playing for Lombardi and the Warriors.
