Mid-Prairie’s Quinby a Duhawk

WELLMAN - Nathan Quinby knows what it's like to be without football, without coaching, without teammates after not joining the Golden Hawks his freshman year at Mid-Prairie.

Having playing on the middle school team, he realized how much he missed the game.

'I really regretted not going out and from there it just evolved,” Quinby said. 'My teammates and coaches made me fall in love with the game and I couldn't imagine leaving it.”

The evolution will continue at Loras College as he signed a letter of intent Friday at Mid-Prairie High School flanked by his parents with the library full of teammates.

Loras, in Dubuque, has an enrollment of approximately 1,600 students and is the oldest postsecondary institution in the state of Iowa. The Duhawks play in the Division III American Rivers Conference, but have yet to play the 2020 season. It will begin in March. In 2019, the football team was 5-5.

Visits in August and September solidified Quinby's decision. 'The campus is beautiful. I'm a big weight room guy and I loved theirs. I have family in Dubuque so it's perfect.”

Joining the Golden Hawks for his sophomore season, Quinby was fun with a positive energy, according to Mid-Prairie head coach Pete Cavanagh. 'He is very coachable, worked hard and improved greatly over the three years. Coverage was a strong part of his game as a defensive back.”

The Loras defense plays a cover three that has Quinby excited to play. 'It would create a lot of opportunities for me to get turnovers. It'll help me make plays on the ball.”

Quinby was listed at 5 feet, 9 inches his senior year, but his determination to make a difference was more pronounced than his size.

'If you want to play in college, you always have to get better, bigger, faster, stronger,” Cavanagh said. 'Learning the game will be important and they have a great staff there.”

The coaching staff impressed Quinby so much that he did not consider any other teams. He was also very impressed with academics in the field he wants for a major. The Sport Management program has earned 11 national titles at numerous conferences, including five consecutive victories at the Sport Marketing Association Conference from 2012-2017.

'I'm going into a great program and that will set me up great for the future,” Quinby said.

Quinby has a 'big goal” of working for an NFL team, preferably the Green Bay Packers.

'If not, I can run a YMCA or be an athletic director. There's a lot of things that I can do with that degree.”