Mt. Pleasant, IA- You could not have asked for a better two years of athletic success than what Dylan White has experienced at Mt. Pleasant. Game-winning field goals, a pair of Southeast Conference championships, and two programs brought back to their dominant forms. Now, the Panther gets to enjoy the spoils after signing his letter of intent to join the Central College soccer program next year.
Despite going 10 for 17 kicking field goals and 50 of 54 in extra points the past two seasons on the gridiron, which ended in the senior being named Co-Special Teams Player of the Year for the District, there was never a doubt what sport her would play at the next level.
“For the most part it was always soccer,” said White. “There was like a little thing for football where I was doing quite well so colleges like were interested but in my mind, it was always soccer because that’s like what I love doing so soccer was always the main priority.”
Hard to argue with the decision as White has led the team in assists and points all four years and goals three out of the four years. In fact, his 32 goals, 18 assists, and 82 points all rank within the top four in the state at the time of this article.
His last assist put an exclamation point on a Panther rebuild that saw Mt. Pleasant post season record of 4-10 his freshman season and 3-11 his sophomore campaign to back-to-back conference championships and 23 victories. White has been able to watch the growth from the top of the mountain,
“I would say it’s like really impactful to me because I think my freshman year we went three and ten and my sophomore year we went like three and something again and so being able to rise to like multiple winning records in a row and winning conference back-to-back is really impactful to me because it shows our growth as a team and we’ve bonded closer as teammates as well and personally to me it it’s like really important because I’ve been able to see my success and me grow as a person with my stats and so I would say it just like shows my journey.”
White has been named to the All-Southeast Conference First Team every season, going back to his 14-goal freshman season. Now, the senior sits at 63 goals, 40 assists, and 166 points for his career as the Panthers cling on to the #2-seed for their Class 3A Substate 4 matchup against Pella on May 27th. Even with a jump in his individual stats, White was eager to pass the praise around,
“I would say it’s a lot of practice with my teammates, like I wouldn’t most likely be where I am with my goal scoring or assisting without my teammates because they contribute to so much running off the ball, onto the ball, and allowing me to get open and they’ve been so open to allowing me to take those shots and get so many shots off and so I would say they’re a big part and just off the season work, we play 7v7 all offseason during the summer and winter, so growing as a team too that way and just the more you play the better you get.”
Despite holding out on his pro career, White will be looking to become a CPA post-graduation. In fact, it was not the athletic facilities that attracted White to Pella,
“What stuck out was that they were very like academic based and so that was really important to me because like after college I do want to get a job you know contribute to the real world so it’s really important that they cared about their academics so that was a big part and whenever I went on a visit during the summer they’re all really nice and caring and very focused on academics again.”
As the Panthers gear up to take on Class 1A’s #10 Burlington Notre Dame tonight at 7 pm on the road, White knows that his coaches have his back, including his dad who assists Head Coach Rocco Russo and assistant coach Jon Zimmer,
“My dad’s been coaching me since I was eight years old so him being there throughout the entire time, but he pushes me to become better and even with my other coach, coach Russo and coach Zimmer. I’m also close with them and them trusting in me allows me to play better and it allows me to express myself in the field a lot better when they know they have trust in me, and I know they trust me too.”
