Three Orangemen headed to Doane College

Staying true to the orange and black, three Beatrice football seniors are headed to Doane College in Crete to play for the Tigers next season.

Travis Clark, Steve Wardlaw and Donavon Winters recently committed to playing for Doane and first-year coach Matt Franzen.

All three players looked at a number of options before deciding to play for the Tigers.

“I had no clue where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do, then Doane came along about halfway through the recruiting process,” Clark said.

Clark said his final decision came down to either Doane or Dana College in Blair.

“Both of them were good schools and have good programs,” Clark said.

In the end, Clark chose Doane because it's close to home and it provided everything he was looking for academically. He plans to major in physical education with an emphasis in sports and fitness management.

A three-sport athlete in high school, Clark also had opportunities to play college basketball.

“I took two recruiting trips for basketball, but after I went on them, I knew football was where I needed to be,” Clark said.

Wardlaw said he looked at four otherschools besides Doane before making his final decision.

“I looked at Briar Cliff, Hastings, Dana and Morningside,” Wardlaw said.

Having had a sister at Doane previously, Wardlaw said he knew it was a good school. He said it is also close to home and believes it will be “exciting” to be part of helping rebuild the Tigers' football program. He is undecided about his college major.

Winters had decided to give up his athletic career and plans to attend an art institute and major in graphic design.

But he had a change of heart when he realized he'd miss playing football.

“I decided I'd miss football and the college atmosphere, so I decided to go to a traditional school and I chose Doane,” Winters said.

Like Clark, Winters said he looked at both Doane and Dana, but liked Doane because it is closer to his family.

At Doane, Winters plans to major in business administration with a minor in graphic design.

Clark plans to play on the offensive side of the ball in college.

“I really want to play wide receiver most of all,” Clark said, “but if they need me on both sides of the ball, I'm willing to do that.”

With the coaching changes taking place in the Doane program, Clark said he believes all the newcomers will have a chance to play early.

Beatrice coach Bob Sexton said it's exciting to have three players headed to Doane.

“This is the first time we've had anybody at Doane for quite some time,” Sexton said.

Sexton said he had a good working relationship with Franzen when he was at Hastings College, taking Beatrice teams to the Bronco team camps.

“He'll get that (Doane) program turned around,” Sexton said.

Heading into the fall, Franzen said he plans to play Clark at wide receiver.

“I think that's where he really wants to play,” Franzen said. “He catches the ball well.”

Clark could also find a spot on special teams as a kickoff or punt returner, Franzen said.

Franzen said Wardlaw and Winters will have a chance to compete for a spot at linebacker as freshmen.

“With the team we have right now, we're a little low on numbers, at linebacker especially,” Franzen said. “There will be great opportunities for the freshmen coming in.”

Having players just up the road in Crete will give Beatrice coaches a chance to follow their college careers.

“It's a short trip for us,” Sexton said, “and we can wear our orange and black.”

Clark, Wardlaw and Winters make six Beatrice football players to commit to playing at the college level next fall.

“It's going to be fun to watch Morningside and Hastings and Doane and Briar Cliff compete against each other, because we're going to have Orangemen playing at all four of those schools.

“I'm excited to see that many kids get the opportunity to continue playing.”

Sexton believes all three Doane recruits are solid college football prospects.

Clark's biggest asset, Sexton said, is his competitiveness.

“Travis just competes,” Sexton said. “He's as good of a competitor as we've had in football and I'm sure coach (Jim) Weeks would say the same thing about him in basketball.

“He plays extremely hard and makes up for any physical weaknesses with his hustle.”

Sexton said while Doane recruited Clark as a wide receiver, he could also help out the Tigers in the defensive backfield, if needed.

Wardlaw, Sexton said, is the “sleeper” of this year's senior group.

After coming off knee surgery between his junior and senior years, Wardlaw got off to a slow start this past season.

“He (Wardlaw) got progressively better and better as the year went along this year,” Sexton said.

Wardlaw is a little “undersized” as inside linebacker, Sexton said, but added he believes Wardlaw can contribute at the collegiate level as an outside linebacker.

“He has good speed, great instincts and he likes contact,” Sexton said of Wardlaw.

Winters, Sexton said, is one of the toughest kids he's had go through the Orangemen football program.

“Donavon plays very physical and has the athletic ability to make a nice strong safety or an outside linebacker,” Sexton said.

What the three players believe are their personal strengths mirror Sexton's assessments.

Clark said his work ethic should help get him “on the field” at the college level.

“I just want to keep working and do what I know how to do,” Clark said.

In moving to the collegiate level, Clark said he knows he needs to get stronger and bigger.

Speed and determination are his two best qualities as a football player, Wardlaw said.

“I may not be the biggest kid, but I usually try my hardest,” Wardlaw said.

Wardlaw knows the college game will be faster than high school and said he will have to adjust to that.

Winters said his desire to keep getting better will help him at the college level.

“My strength should also be a plus,” Winters said, “but I'm going to have to get a lot bigger. I'm just a little guy right now.”

Winters said along with working to get bigger and stronger, he'll also have to study the college game and learn to play it.

As the three players leave their high school careers behind, all have good memories of their time as Orangemen.

Clark said the highlight of his high school career was getting to the state semifinals the past two years.

“I'm going to miss high school, but I'm ready for the next level,” Clark said.

Wardlaw said his personal highlights on the football field for Beatrice were his interception in the 2006 state semifinals at McCook and a sack at Ralston this season.

Winters said his “best memory” from high school was beating Crete this season. The Cardinals went on to win the Class B State championship with their only loss to the Orangemen.

“Scoring a touchdown on defense was also pretty cool,” Winters said.