WBND Football

08/29/2026

08/28/2026

🏈🏈 Game 1 🏈🏈

08/27/2026

Jayden Nanthan took the high school football world by storm a year ago. After serving as an unders...

08/09/2026

The West Burlington/Notre Dame Football webstore is now open:

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Store Close: 8/12
Orders Back: 8/31

08/08/2026

08/08/2026

🏈 Dog House Tour Final Assessment: 2026 West Burlington–Notre Dame Falcons

The more I unpack my visit to West Burlington–Notre Dame, the more this football team intrigues me.

This isn’t the biggest team I’ve seen on the Dog House Tour. They aren’t going to walk onto the field and overwhelm everybody getting off the bus.

But here’s what matters:

They are physical.

Coach Joe Bowman has a football team that gets after people. The Falcons may be a little undersized in the trenches, but they play with an edge. They compete. They aren’t afraid of contact.

And when you start looking at the athletes playing behind that line, things get really interesting.

My final assessment?

Don’t sleep on WB-ND in 2026.

🐎 Jayden Nanthan — Ride the Horse

Let’s start with the dude everybody is going to have to find.

Jayden Nanthan is one of the most dynamic running backs I’ve seen in the entire Tri-State region.

What separates him?

Footwork.

Nanthan can plant his foot, change direction, and get back to full speed in a hurry. But there’s something else about him that doesn’t necessarily show up on paper.

I call it stealthy speed.

Sometimes it doesn’t look like he’s moving that fast.

Then suddenly he’s through the hole, into the secondary, and you’re chasing him.

He’s elusive enough to make you miss but physical enough to get the tough yards when they’re needed.

If I’m Coach Bowman, I’m perfectly comfortable with one philosophy:

Ride the horse.

Feed Nanthan and make somebody prove they can stop him.

But that’s where 2026 gets interesting.

Because Coach Bowman may have another horse in the stable.

⚡ Kellan Porter — The Other Half of the Two-Headed Monster

Sophomore quarterback Kellan Porter was one of the most intriguing young players I saw during my visit.

The kid is fast, electric, and smart.

And remember:

He’s only a sophomore.

That’s what excites me.

There are going to be growing pains. That’s football. Playing quarterback at the varsity level isn’t easy for anybody, much less a sophomore.

But Porter has tools you can’t teach.

Athleticism.

Speed.

Instincts.

And from what I saw, a pretty darn good understanding of the game for a young quarterback.

Now put him in the backfield with Nanthan.

That’s where the headache begins for defensive coordinators.

Commit everybody to stopping Nanthan?

Porter can hurt you.

Start accounting for the quarterback?

Now you’ve created more room for one of the most dynamic backs in the Tri-State region.

That’s why I’m calling them:

THE TWO-HEADED MONSTER

Nanthan + Porter.

I’m going to be watching this combination closely.

⭐ Tatum Warner — Dude on the Rise

Here’s another name I’m putting on the Dog House radar:

Tatum Warner.

This young man is a dude on the rise.

He’s athletic, competitive, and gives the Falcons another weapon defenses are going to have to account for.

That’s important because if you’re spending the entire week figuring out how to stop Nanthan and contain Porter, somebody else is eventually going to get an opportunity.

Warner could be that guy.

I believe there’s another level coming from him.

Remember the name: Tatum Warner.

⭐ Sam Dzawo — Another One to Watch

Then there’s Sam Dzawo.

Another athlete who caught my attention during the visit and another player I believe has considerable upside.

One of my favorite parts of the Dog House Tour has been identifying players who might not have become household names yet but have the potential to get there.

Dzawo fits that category for me.

When I start putting together the pieces—Nanthan, Porter, Warner, Dzawo—there is more athleticism here than people might realize.

💪 Undersized Up Front? So What?

Now we get to what could determine the ceiling for this football team.

The trenches.

I’ll say it again:

WB-ND is a little undersized up front.

But I’ll also say this:

THEY ARE PHYSICAL.

I’ve coached football long enough to know that height and weight don’t block anybody by themselves.

Technique does.

Leverage does.

Effort does.

Attitude does.

And physicality sure as heck does.

That’s what I saw.

This offensive line doesn’t have to blow everybody five yards off the football every snap.

With Nanthan and Porter behind them?

Give those guys a crease.

That’s all they need.

If this group continues developing and embraces that physical identity, I think they’ll give Coach Bowman enough up front to let those athletes go to work.

🧠 The Joe Bowman Factor

I like what Coach Joe Bowman is building.

This program has already crossed an important bridge by experiencing postseason success.

That’s significant.

Once kids experience winning football, something changes.

You stop wondering whether you belong.

You start expecting to belong.

Now the challenge is taking another step.

Bowman has one of the most dynamic backs in the area.

He has an exciting sophomore quarterback.

He has developing weapons around them.

And he has a physical group in the trenches.

You don’t need to overcomplicate this thing.

Run the football.

Make defenses account for Porter.

Find ways to get Warner and Dzawo involved.

Play physical defense.

Make somebody beat you.

🗓️ THE SCHEDULE — GOOD GRIEF

And now we get to the part that makes evaluating WB-ND difficult.

This schedule is tough week in and week out.

The Falcons start August 21 by heading across town to Bracewell Stadium for the Fall Fest Scrimmage against Burlington.

I love that.

Go line up against the bigger school. Find out where you’re at physically. Let a sophomore quarterback get some live work. Find the mistakes before the games start counting.

Then buckle up.

August 28 — at Danville.

Opening night. On the road.

Then comes a stretch that tells me we’re going to find out about WB-ND pretty darn quickly.

September 4 — Fort Madison at Bill Nelson Field.

I’ve seen the Bloodhounds on this tour, and that’s going to be a serious early-season measuring stick.

Then:

September 11 — Keokuk.

Another physical Southeast Iowa football game.

And then:

September 18 — at Mediapolis.

Good grief.

Fort Madison.

Keokuk.

Mediapolis.

Three weeks in a row.

There isn’t much time to catch your breath.

And then district play begins.

September 25 — Central Lee at Bill Nelson Field.

This game really interests me. I’ve visited both programs, and I think the styles could make this an old-fashioned, physical football game.

October 2 — at Wilton.

Another tough road environment.

October 9 — West Liberty.

No break there.

And finally:

October 16 — at Mid-Prairie.

That’s how you finish the regular season.

Take another look:

Danville. Fort Madison. Keokuk. Mediapolis. Central Lee. Wilton. West Liberty. Mid-Prairie.

There isn’t a Friday night where Coach Bowman gets to say:

“Well, boys, this one should be easy.”

Nope.

They’re going to have to earn everything.

🐾 Why the Schedule Could Actually Help Them

Here’s the flip side.

If WB-ND earns its way into the postseason after going through that schedule…

Nobody is going to want to play them.

Kellan Porter is going to grow up quickly.

The sophomore quarterback who begins the season isn’t going to be the same quarterback taking snaps in October.

Nanthan is going to see loaded boxes.

The offensive line is going to face bigger people.

The defense is going to be challenged.

Warner and Dzawo are going to be forced into meaningful situations.

That’s how football players develop.

The schedule is going to forge this team.

🐾 Dog House Final Assessment

There are some things I really like about WB-ND.

There are also some legitimate questions.

The offensive line’s lack of size concerns me against some of the bigger, more physical teams on this schedule.

Porter is extremely talented, but he’s still a sophomore quarterback.

And that schedule is relentless.

That’s why I’m not putting an A on this team yet.

But the upside?

It’s absolutely there.

They have a legitimate difference-maker in Nanthan.

They have one of the more intriguing young quarterbacks I’ve seen in Porter.

Warner is a dude on the rise.

Dzawo is another athlete worth watching.

And the guys up front don’t seem particularly interested in hearing that they’re undersized.

They just want to play football.

I like that.

🏆 DOG HOUSE OVERALL TEAM GRADE: B+

That’s a strong B+ for me.

And there’s room for that grade to climb.

If the offensive line holds up against this schedule and Porter develops quickly, WB-ND could become one of those teams that looks considerably different in October than it did in August.

🔥 Final Word

Ride the horse.

That’s where I’d start.

Jayden Nanthan is one of the most dynamic backs I’ve seen in the Tri-State region. Get the football in his hands and make defenses stop him.

But this year, defenses can’t just stare at Nanthan.

Because standing beside him is a sophomore quarterback who might be getting ready to introduce himself to Southeast Iowa.

Kellan Porter.

Fast.

Electric.

Smart.

Then you’ve got Tatum Warner, my Dude on the Rise.

You’ve got Sam Dzawo developing.

And you’ve got an undersized offensive line that doesn’t seem to know—or care—that it’s undersized.

They’ll hit you anyway.

The schedule is brutal.

The questions are legitimate.

But so is the talent.

Nanthan + Porter = a potential two-headed monster.

If those pieces come together?

Don’t sleep on the 2026 West Burlington–Notre Dame Falcons.

This could be a really fun football team.

Dog House Grade: B+ 🐾🏈

— Chuck Banks
Dog House Tour 2026

08/07/2026

04/24/2026

LAST CALL for 2026 WBND YSF football sign ups! YSF is a youth tackle football program for WBND 3rd-6th graders guided by knowledgeable coaches including our JH and HS coaching staff. YSF registration is completed online for WBND students. Please fill out an interest form first (use link below) and then you will be emailed a registration link to sign up and pay through YSF. If you have any questions, please email [email protected].
https://form.jotform.com/260816717240051