IOWA FOOTBALL

Shrine Bowl offers future Hawkeyes final go at prep positions

Chris Cuellar
ccuellar@dmreg.com

Forget about using Saturday’s Iowa Shrine Bowl to thoroughly scout future Iowa football players.

The UNI-Dome game is going to let Noah Clayberg and Sam Cook have some fun.

Four incoming Hawkeye freshmen are on the fundraising all-star rosters — including the graduated senior stars from Pella and Fort Dodge — getting to play their prep positions one last time at 4 p.m. in Cedar Falls.

“You can see they’ve all obviously been active and working out and in football mode because of their activities at Iowa,” said Brian Wilken, coach at Newell-Fonda and head coach of the Shrine Bowl’s North squad.

Pella's Noah Clayberg runs into the end zone to make it 37-20 during their semifinal game against West Delaware, Manchester's at the UNI dome on Thursday, November 12, 2015 in Cedar Falls.

“They’ve all taken leadership roles in bringing these football teams along in one week, and that’s one of the neat things about this whole experience.”

Clayberg is currently a grayshirt defensive back recruit for Iowa, but he will take half the snaps for the South squad at quarterback, where he starred in back-to-back title seasons with Pella. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound prospect will share time with Waukee’s Ben Ferkin in spreading the ball out to the Shrine Bowl’s talent-loaded roster.

“I think (Clayberg) was really excited to be at quarterback,” said Mike Whisner, coach at ADM and of Saturday’s South squad.

“Most the kids have been pretty excited to play all week. It’s a great experience for them to work with other athletes at that level. It gives them an idea of how they compare on the field with good athletes from other schools.”

Cook is a walk-on linebacker who was named to the Register’s All-Iowa high school male athlete of the year last month. North will let the two-time state wrestling champion play running back, where he piled up offensive records in a four-year career at Fort Dodge.

“To watch Sam play football, it’s easy to understand why he was such a tremendous wrestler,” Wilken said.

“He is a tough, hard-nosed young man that plays the game at 110 percent every play.”

Linemen Cole Banwart, of Algona, and Dalles Jacobus, of Cedar Rapids Kennedy, are joining their Hawkeye teammates in Cedar Falls this week, practicing twice a day and joining other in-state standouts in putting the pads back on. Banwart is Iowa’s lone scholarship signee participating in the Shrine Bowl.

Among the dozens of future college football players in the 93-player class are Iowa State commit Carson Lensing and Northern Iowa speedsters Xavior Williams and Jalen Rima.

“The challenge is to bring them together for one game and execute the scheme that we have,” Whisner said. “We want to make it exciting.”

Other storylines to follow at Saturday’s Iowa Shrine Bowl…

CIML down South:

Dowling Catholic defensive end Brawntae Wells (left, 91) is a captain for the South squad at Saturday's Iowa Shrine Bowl.

The South squad is on a five-year win streak, and it appears to have a boost — at least on paper — from the largest league in the state. The CIML has 10 players in the 43-year-old game, and nine are playing for the South team. Dowling Catholic’s Brawntae Wells and Valley’s Nick Yencer are defensive captains for coach Mike Whisner’s group, while four of the central Iowa 4A schools supplied offensive linemen and three others are skill players.

Small-school speed:

Five players in the fundraising event rushed for more than 1,500 yards last season for teams in Class 1A, A or the eight-player league. Ogden’s Austin Lentz (2,022 yards) has impressed and will vie for touches among his talented South teammates, and he's joined by Glidden-Ralston’s Christopher Brown (1,805) and Missouri Valley’s Justin Miller (1,723). The North got some of that production too, with Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire’s utility star Michael Girres (2,055) playing in the space as Belmond-Klemme’s Korby Sander (1,685).

Busy Wilken back-and-forth:

Newell-Fonda coach Brian Wilken is serving as North's head coach for the first time, but the honor has made for one of the busiest weeks of his year. Wilken has three daughters playing in Fort Dodge for the Mustangs’ state tournament softball team: senior Jordan, sophomore Peyton and freshman Camryn.

“I wouldn’t trade the moments I’ve had this week for anything,” Wilken said. “It’s something I wish everybody could experience.”