Woodbine FB Primed for Another Run to the UNI Dome

Woodbine FB Primed for Another Run to the UNI Dome -

(8-26-26) – 1:09 away. That was how close Woodbine was to winning a State Championship in 8-player last season.

The Tigers fell by 2 pts in the 8-player State Championship Game to Bishop Garrigan last season. Despite the way it ended, Woodbine Coach Dustin Crook felt it was a successful year for his squad.

“It was a great season for us, very exciting for us coaches and players in the community. It was a fun ride and the way we wanted to, but I was really grateful for the season that we had.”

Crook has plenty of optimism for this new season, especially when you have Landon Blum, the Penn State-commit and 8-player leading receiver after a campaign of 60 catches for 1049 yds and 24 TDs.

“He's been committed to the playing at the next level at a very early age. He's been continuing to grow and build each year and do the things that we ask of him. He's been fun to coach and we look forward to an exciting year with him.”

Blum’s new quarterback, Cal Pryor, got plenty of opportunities to prepare to take the starting job after nearly 550 yards of total offense last season and 11 TDs. Crook is confident that there won’t be any drop off in the offense.

“Really excited for everybody to see Cal's capabilities. We know what he's capable of. Everybody else is kind of hasn't seen him because he's been playing behind cousin Brody. But we're very confident that he's going to be able to pick up and keep our offense running.”

With the success of the Tigers offense last season, not much thought was given to the incredible defense that allowed just 11.4 pts per game. Crook gave credit to the players buying into their defensive game plan as part of their success last season.

“We had a lot of guys committed to our defensive game plan and understanding the standard that we expect to play on defense and their commitment to film study and prep for all the teams we played.”

Woodbine will look to make a run back to the UNI Dome, starting with their season opener against Lenox on Friday.

View past scores by visiting the Iowa High School Athletic Association's website, Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union website,
or Iowa Quik Stats