Woodall to play college football in Minnesota
Over the past four years, Jonathan Woodall set about establishing himself as a key part of the Ridgeland Panthers defense, while off the field, he established himself as one of the best and brightest students at RHS.
On Wednesday, the fruits of his labor on the field and in the classroom paid off in a big, big way.
The senior linebacker signed on to play college football at Carleton College, a NCAA Division III program in Northfield, Minnesota and received a significant academic package that will cover a large majority of his tuition.
Kip Klein, who served as Woodall’s head coach the past three seasons, said Woodall was a perfect example of keeping up grades and continuing to put in the work in the weight room and not letting up, even after the season was over.
“Playing college (sports) is one of the greatest honors you can have as an athlete, whether it’s in the SEC, the ACC, the Southern Conference or wherever it is,” he told the crowd gathered in
the Ridgeland media center. “But the goal is to walk across that stage and have them say ‘college graduate’ and for somebody else to pay for it is even better.
“(Carleton) looked at Jonathan and they are going to take their chances on what he has done. They are putting their name and their
money where his grades are. I look forward to seeing what he does. (College) is the best time in an athlete’s life and it’s also the best time in a parent’s life because you get to see (your child’s) goal come true.”
Woodall, a member of the Ridgeland Honors Program who holds a 3.98 grade point
average and is ranked in the Top 10 of his class, said he started being recruited by Carleton early on in his junior season.
“They were the first one to reach out to me,” he said. “They put a lot of trust in me and my abilities, but at the same time, it’s also one of the best schools I’ve ever seen academically. Really, it’s just a blessing to be able to go and I’m thankful for it.”
The private liberal arts college is ranked No. 1 in Minnesota for pre-med students — Woodall’s future course of study — and ranked No. 2 in the country by Collegevine. com among non-Ivy League schools for Intellectual Rigor and Higher Acceptance Rates.
On the field, the Knights are also climbing in the rankings. Last season, they finished 7-3 overall and ended up fourth in the Northwoods Division of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
“The campus is beautiful. Cold and snowy, but beautiful,” Woodall explained. “They’re just now getting to the spot where they’re starting to become very competitive in football, so I’m excited to be part of another stepping stone for the program.”
As a sophomore, Woodall made 23 tackles and 31 assists for the region champion Panthers. By the following year, he made 52 tackles to earn second team All-Region honors, and ended his prep career last fall with 60 tackles, including 25 solo, to go with three tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Those numbers earned him another All-Region selection, this time on the honorable mention list.
Recruited primarily as an outside linebacker, Woodall said the Carleton staff might use him some at safety as well.
“I think I can be versatile, kind of like what I was doing in high school and filling in any holes where they need me,” he added. “I’m just going to do my job to the best of my abilities, whatever they ask of me.”
Klein called him “a consummate coaches’ player”.
“He’s always been a student of the game,” Klein added. “He wants to watch film, learn and correct what he’s doing wrong and he’s really like another coach on the field. Sometimes he thinks a little too much, but he always gets to where he’s supposed to be and he always gets there ready to hit.
“He’ll be a diamond in the rough at Carleton. They will get a lot out of him just because of his intellectual abilities and not just because of his athletic abilities.”
Woodall hopes to one day attend medical school.
“We’ll see where it takes me,” he added. “It’ll be tough, but it’ll be worth it.”