Owen Donovan has taken a big step up in each of his last two seasons for the Highland football team. From barely seeing the field, to a piece of a balanced rushing attack, to being the guy - a 1,000 yard rusher in his senior season. 

His next step will take him to William Penn University, where Donovan will join the Statesman football program in the fall. 

“I took a visit there and they were really nice,” Donovan said. “It was a well built program.”

Coach Todd Hafner is in his 18th season as head coach at William Penn, where he has a career record of 106-78-1. 

From 2008-2017, the William Penn football team had nine winning seasons in ten years. The Statesmen are looking to build off of a 4-3 covid-shortened season in 2020. 

The plan is to use Donovan on the offensive side of the ball at running back, or possibly fullback. Donovan is also an explosive kick returner. He averaged over 36 yards per kick return in 2020 with a pair of touchdowns on 12 returns. 

“It’s like - wherever they want to put me, you know,” Donovan said. “It’ll be interesting to see what they can do with me there, it’ll be fun.”

Donovan enjoyed his visit to the Oskaloosa campus, 65 miles from Highland High School.

“I like the campus, it’s old because it’s Quaker, but I think it was good. 

“Overall, I like the campus and the programs they offer and the coaches were super nice. It was everything you want  in a  program. So it was like, why not?”

Donovan grew up in a football family, the son of a coach. He didn’t play as a freshman, but joined the team as a sophomore, finding a role and a love for football. 

“I kind of drew back to the sport through coach (Scott) Morel, my co-head coach and my dad (Joe Donovan. (They) motivated me and helped me. “I think over my junior and senior year I progressed a lot and put on a lot of weight. I got stronger, I got faster and  my speed became a quality that a lot of people liked.

“I think the mentality that I had towards the sport, the toughness, that ‘flip the switch’ mentality made me want to play football. And you know, I’ve got the skill to do it and I love the sport to death, so it’s like, let’s do this.”