Washington Football

James 'retiring' at Washington, but wants to coach

Paul James announced Wednesday that he plans to retire as the activities director and football coach at Cedar Rapids Washington after the 2015-16 school year, but he plans to re-apply for the football job.

Due to state rules, James has to completely retire from Washington before he can re-apply for the football job in order to keep all of his retirement benefits.

"I'll have to sit out a period of time and re-apply," he said. "I don't know exactly how it will go, but there's a possibility.

"I'd like to continue, but IPERS rules force you to resign everything and then there's a rule you have to follow as far as coming back.

"You have to be real careful. Nothing can be pre-arranged. I would stand to lose my entire retirement benefits. I'll have to wait until it's posted and re-apply and see what happens."

James thinks there will be enough time to "retire" and then be re-hired as the football coach for the 2016 campaign. "Yeah, that possibility exists," he remarked.

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3 Warriors headed for college football

Washington High School football players Isaiah Nimmers, Ross Kennedy and Matt Ackerman will be saluted in a signing ceremony in the school cafeteria Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.

Nimmers is signing with the University of Northern Iowa, Kennedy plans to play at Drake and Ackerman is headed to Coe.

Nimmers, a wide receiver and defensive back, was named second team all-state on defense in 2015 and was named first team all-district on offense and defense.

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Vance, Todd get offers from Cyclones

Cedar Rapids Washington football players O'Rien Vance and Andrew Todd have been offered scholarships by new Iowa State Coach Matt Campbell.

Vance, a junior, is a 6-foot-2, 210-pound all-state linebacker. Todd, just a sophomore, is a 6-3, 250-pound offensive lineman who received honorable mention laurels this season on the All-Metro and All-District teams.

"Very honored, but in no hurry to commit," Todd told the Metro Sports Report. "I need to meet the coaches and explore all my options. I don't want to commit until I'm 100 percent certain."

Washington finished 10-2 this season and reached the quarterfinals of the Class 4A playoffs.

Hobbs plays in River Bowl Battle

Cedar Rapids Washington senior Dallas Hobbs played in the River Bowl Battle all-star football game in Omaha on Saturday.

The new game matched seniors from Iowa against seniors from Nebraska, giving them a chance to showcase their skills before college football coaches and fans.

Hobbs, a 6-foot-6 defensive end, made five tackles in the game and had one sack.