Our tour stop to Bettendorf High School in Bettendorf, Iowa comes with a little history. It was only one year ago that the MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard honored Xavier (Cedar Rapids),the team that ousted Bettendorf from the playoffs last season. 2007 proved a different result, as Bettendorf completed a perfect 13-0 campaign, adding another state championship to their history. Beyond that, Bettendorf became the only team in Iowa that would be honored with a MaxPreps Tour of Champions ceremony this year.
The stage was set at the halftime of a varsity basketball game on Friday, January 11th. We always enjoy making our way to Iowa and Bettendorf certainly didn't let us down. Prior to the ceremony, members of the team were given MaxPreps Tour of Champions t shirts, distributed by an excellent group of Iowa National Guard members. Once the half time buzzer sounded, MaxPreps representative Chris Brethel took the mic to address the crowd. As Brethel remarked, Iowa may be known for being one of the premier wrestling states in the country, but the Tour of Champions came to tell the MaxPreps community that Bettendorf football is a true force in the high school sports world.
Next up, LTC Newhall of the Iowa National Guard spoke on behalf of the ARNG, with the highlight being a presentation of the Tour of Champions trophy to Head Coach Randy Scott.honored as the number 30 ranked team in the MaxPreps national polls.
That evening, Coach Scott was gracious enough to give me a brief tour of the training center at Bettendorf High. While the equipment and layout was quite impressive, the highlight was most certainly the wall displaying Bettendorf's football history. We're talking about one of the finest football programs in the state of Iowa- which was all too fitting with MaxPreps and the Army National Guard selecting Bettendorf HS as a 2008 recipient of the Tour of Champions National Ranking Trophy.
