“Defense wins championships.” It’s a saying heard quite a bit in the sports world, and as new coach Dixie Wooten takes the reigns of the Iowa Barnstormers, its one that might get heard more. With their defense, the Iowa Barnstormers 2017 season is looking bright.
The team will take the field this week in an effort to end the Sioux Falls Storm run of seven straight Indoor Football League championships. It all starts with a duo of veteran leaders, Javicz Jones and Jamie Bender.
Iowa Barnstormers 2017 Season Looking Bright
The two were signed in the off season as part of Wooten’s efforts to give the team some veteran leadership.
“It’s major,” Wooten said. “When you bring in guys that understand the game of football, [they] teach the young guys. That brings the young guys up to another level. [It’s] making a big difference.”
Jones lead the IFL with 10.9 tackles per game in 2016, after a stint in the Canadian Football League.
“Having him as our linebacker and our team leader, its special,” Wooten said. “All you got to do is tell him something once, and he understands it to the fullest.”
Bender on the other hand played six games with the Green Bay Blizzard last season, and was one interception away from leading the team. After getting traded, he would get the call to play for the Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League.
“Bender stood out big time [in camp],” Wooten said. “He came in, he helped the [younger] guys understand the game.”
Coach Wooten said that training camp is going well.
“Just imagine Javicz [Jones] and Jamie [Bender] on the same defense,” Barnstormers coach Dixie Wooten said. “It’s amazing to watch.”
Although, the two coming to Des Moines was more or less a packaged deal.
When Bender got the call from the Barnstormers, he first messaged Jones to see if he would be back in Iowa. Jones will return to the team this season.
“You always think, ‘what if this guy was on my team?’” Jones said.
Jones will find the answer to that question this Saturday, when the Barnstormers open their season against the Wichita Falls Nighthawks on the road.
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