1900 TEAM PHOTO

1956 Jersey County Democrat Photo turns up evidence that Jersey had a football team in 1900.

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MITCH WATKINS SHINES IN GRAPHIC EDGE BOWL GAME

Former Panther QB selected as Offensive Player of the Game

HeraldNewsOnline.com

Reserve QB Watkins leads Wolves

special to the herald news

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- With apologies to Sheryl Crow, a change did Joliet Junior College's football team good Sunday, but not quite good enough.

Reserve quarterback Mitch Watkins directed the Wolves to three second-half touchdowns, cutting a 24-0 lead by Iowa Central to 24-19, but that was as close as JJC got in a 30-19 loss in the Graphic Edge Bowl.

Iowa Central struck first on a long touchdown run by Steven Harper to make the score 7-0. The two teams battled back and forth for the remainder of the first quarter, with Iowa Central sticking to the running game and Joliet running its spread offense. The game was dominated by both defenses early on as both offenses had trouble converting on 3rd down. Iowa Central intercepted a Joliet pass to start the second quarter but gave the ball right back to the Wolves on the ensuing play. After another Joliet punt, the Tritons turned to the passing attack and has some success. They completed a long pass to Donte Shackelford and a 25-yard touchdown pass from Zach Edwards to Joel Hanson. The Brandon Burden extra point made the score 14-0 with 8:42 left in the half. The Joliet defense was able to hold the Tritons at the end of the half to a 42 yard field goal by Burden to make the halftime score 17-0.

JJC started the second half with the ball and was able to march the ball downfield thanks to good passing by quarterback Jason Schlueter. Joliet was faced with a fourth-and-1 with 10:43 left in the third quarter, but an illegal motion penalty was called. The Wolves were unable to covert, and Iowa Central took over on downs. After an Iowa Central punt, Joliet took over at its own 30.

Turnovers proved costly for Joliet the entire game as the Wolves threw their fourth interception to Cutis Meyer of Iowa Central, who returned it to the Joliet 15. Three consecutive Steven Harper runs later, the Tritons were on the board with another touchdown to make the score 24-0.

JJC switched to Watkins, and he orchestrated a drive that took the Wolves to the Iowa Central 32. Watkins then pulled the ball down and ran for 24 yards to the Iowa Central 8, the first time the Wolves had been in the red zone. On second and-goal from the 12, Watkins put Joliet on the board with a touchdown pass to Steve Benjamin. The Wolves tried a 2-point conversion, but failed.

Meyer returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards to the Joliet 14 yard line, but the Tritons were unable to capitalize as Burden missed a 37-yard field goal. The Wolves took over and marched the ball 80 yards, scoring on a 25 yard pass play to Sean Alexander. Joliet had the extra point blocked and the score was 24-12.

After a failed fourth down attempt by JJC, Iowa Central took over on downs on its own 45. The Tritons attempted a long pass on first down, but the pass was intercepted by Marcus Minor on the Joliet 7. The Wolves drove 93 yards in 2½ minutes and scored on yet another Watkins touchdown pass.

Iowa Central received the kickoff and after running one play, they took a chance downfield and Edwards completed a 75-yard touchdown pass to Joel Hansen for Hansen's 2nd touchdown of the game. After a failed 2-point conversion the score was 30-19.

Joliet's final drive stalled at about the 30 yard line, and a field goal attempt by Steve Ivanesivic from Joliet was no good.

Watkins was named Offensive Player of the Game.

BY LOUIE KORAC

 "Goal of reaching D-I motivates Watkins, who signs football letter with Joliet Junior College"

Mitch Watkins knows now that he can rest comfortably.
    Why? Because the stress and anguish of picking the right school can be pressing at times and time-consuming at others.
    But rest assured, the smile that pierced from one ear to the next fully shows that the senior quarterback feels like he made the right decision.
    After deliberation between a pair of schools, Watkins recently signed a letter of intent to play football at Joliet Junior College, the NJCAA national champions in 2001 and 2002.
    Watkins also entertained an offer from St. Francis University, an NAIA school also located in Joliet that’s located approximately an hour  south of Chicago.

ALL SMILES - Jersey’s Mitch Watkins (front, left) is all smiles after
signing his letter of intent to play football next fall at Joliet Junior
College. With Watkins are Jersey coach Chris Skinner (front, right) and his
mother Vicki (back). (Photo by Mike Davenport)

"It’s a lot of stress off of me and my family," said Watkins, who set JCHS records in 2003 for most passing yards in a season (2,191), a single game (406) and touchdown passes (20). "I can go through the rest of the school year and the summer with a clear mind and knowing where my surroundings are going to be next August. It’s a good fit and I feel really good about it."
    Someone may question why select a junior college over a four-year university, but to Watkins, the answer was simple.
    "They’re contenders," Watkins said. "They’re JUCO, but they were national champions a couple years back and they play some of the best teams in the nation, JUCO-wise. The coach (first-year head coach Tom Minnick) is real nice. They’re a real help academic-wise and athletic-wise. They let me know I can get in here and get re-noticed and start the whole recruitment process all over again so I can make my goal to where I want to be, which is Division I."
    "It was a tough decision between the University of St. Francis. It was a four-year school and I figured I could go there and build myself into the program and try to make it into a winning program. But then I talked to the coaches at JJC and they let me know the big names that came from junior colleges and what opportunities you can get from going to a JUCO school better than a four-year school."
    So  despite the risk of going the JUCO route, the initiative to get to Division I football is well worth the risk – as long as one can get there.
    "That’s very important," Watkins said. "Once I get there, I’m going to have a one-track mind, focus on one spot, which is school and then football. I just got to do it until I reach my goal."
    His coach said it’s a good fit to get started.
    "(Former Panther) Luke Kallal went up there and won a national title," said JCHS coach Chris Skinner. "It’s a good program, good academics. Mitch and I have talked. He knows his academics come first and that’s what he’s there for, to get an education, but if athletics can help him, that’s great.
    "Everything is set in line now. He knows what he’s got to do to be successful in college and I think he’ll work hard and do that."
    The decision between JJC and St. Francis wasn’t the only option Watkins was weighing. There was also the choice of football and basketball, something he said weighed heavily on his mind.
    "It did during football season, but then when I hurt my knee, it (thoughts of basketball) just kind of floated away because I couldn’t do (basketball-wise) the things I used to be able to do," Watkins said. "Towards the end of the (basketball) season, I got a little stronger with it. I did some things I didn’t think I could do. I played a little longer, a little harder than I used to be able to. It boggled a little bit in my head, but football is there for me and it just seems like that it’s the one thing I can get myself somewhere."
    Watkins is already thinking of ways to motivate himself while at JJC.
    "I’m going to have to make little messages to myself in my apartment where I’m going to be staying," he said. "As soon as I wake up, I got to see things that I write down, tell myself my goals I have to do for each year. Basically, it’s to make my parents proud, make myself proud and make my friends and family proud of me; make something of myself and try to reach that goal."
    "We’re excited for Mitch," Skinner said. "We wish him all the best. I think he’s going to find some success up there and hopefully use that as a springboard to move onto the next level. Joliet is a very respectable program. Other kids go up there."
    Watkins’ biggest adjustment at the quarterback position will be the speed of the game, which is so much different than playing in prep games.
    "It’s a different speed," Skinner said. "That’s the biggest thing I talk to our kids about when they go onto the college level. No matter what division they go onto, the speed of the game is much faster, you’re playing against older kids. That’s the biggest thing. Mitch definitely has the athletic talent. The (defensive backs) are going to be faster, they’re going t o be quicker, more experienced. He’s going to have to work on reading his keys and working on reading secondaries. He’ll do a good job. What will also help is he’ll have more position coaches that will spend more time with him than we have at the high school level."
    If he has to sit and learn for a year, that’s fine with him, but Watkins is intent on competing for a starting job immediately.
    "The coaches basically have told me that I can come in and compete for a chance to start," he said. "They said I have a real good chance of going in right away. But I’m not going in with the mindset that I’ve got the job already. I’m going to go in and work harder than anybody and prove to them that I’m supposed to be there, and if I get that starting job, I’m not going to lose it.
    "I’m going to try and go in there and keep their reputation up."