[Stardust]

When Josh Koontz started looking at colleges, he knew a big school wasn’t the place for him. Instead, he sought out a place that felt like Bethlehem, and that’s why he signed on last week to continue his football career at Lindsey Wilson College.

“I went to all the other colleges” that had expressed interest in him, Koontz said, but “I really didn’t feel like I was at home.”

When visiting LWC’s Columbia campus, Koontz said he was attracted to the small-town feel and the coaches who embraced him.

“I just liked the small community,” he said. “Everybody knows each other. It’s like a family.”

Lindsey Wilson, which competes in the NAIA Mid-South Conference, restarted its football program after several decades in mothballs. With that came new facilities, something that Koontz said was very attractive.

“They’re brand-new — a lot better than the other schools I went to,” he said.

Koontz, a lineman for Bethlehem, was recruited to play center. His father and Eagles’ head coach, Ron Koontz, said Josh’s abilities as a shotgun snapper in Bethlehem’s spread offense fit in well with the Blue Raiders, who run a similar offense.

“That’s one less thing he’s got to learn, but the terminology will be different,” the Bethlehem coach said.

Josh Koontz said playing football in college has always been a goal, ever since he was a child, and he’s thrilled about the opportunity.

“I feel great,” he said. “It’s what I’ve always wanted to do since little league. It’s like a dream come true.”

Ron Koontz said that in addition to getting up to speed on the Lindsey Wilson playbook, his son would need to hit the weights and get stronger and faster.

Josh Koontz plans to study criminal justice with an eye toward one day becoming a law enforcement officer.

He said he’d miss his time at Bethlehem, especially the two years he spent playing for his father, who took over the Eagles’ top job before the 2010 season after a long stint as an assistant at Bardstown.

“He’s been with me since little league — I always wanted to have him as a coach,” Josh Koontz said. “The father-son experience, it was really awesome.”

The feeling is mutual.

“As a coach, you’re always happy when any of your kids goes on to play at the next level,” Ron Koontz said. “As a dad, it makes it even more fun. Not a lot of kids get that opportunity.”

http://www.kystandard.com/content/footba...-signs-lwc

[Stardust]

[Image: http://www.kystandard.com/sites/www.kyst...z_sign.jpg]

[Aldric Perfidus]

Congrats young man.

[NEWARKCATHOLICFAN]

Congrats.
What other schools was he looking at?