PCM’s Telfer to play football for Northwest Missouri State

Isaac Telfer waited until almost the very last possible day to decide where he wanted to play football next season.

The Prairie City-Monroe senior was down to continuing his career with a close friend at Grand View University or heading south to play for Northwest Missouri State, an NCAA Division II school that PCM head coach Greg Bonnett won two national championships for.

In the end, the Bearcats won out and Telfer made it official at a national letter of intent signing day ceremony earlier this month. He plans to play linebacker for five-time national champion Northwest Missouri State.

“It was a hard choice. Both schools have nice things,” Telfer said. “In the end, I chose Northwest because it has a good culture, a good family environment and great facilities.”

Telfer is one of two high school players from Iowa the Bearcat coaching staff got commitments from during this recruiting cycle. The program has 20 other Iowans who played for the Bearcats last year.

Bonnett played on Northwest Missouri State’s first two national championship teams in 1998 and 1999. The Bearcats also won national titles in 2013, 2015 and 2016, going 15-0 in each season.

The Bearcats were 9-3 last year and 10-3 in 2017.

“I really don’t think Isaac could have gone wrong with any of the schools he was looking at, but I am personally happy he chose Northwest Missouri State because I am an alum,” Bonnett said. “I know the people down there, I know the community and I know it’s a great place to be.”

Telfer was a standout player for the Mustangs the past three seasons. He helped PCM go 30-4 in those years and the Mustangs earned playoff berths each season.

Telfer played a big role on PCM’s 2018 Class 2A state championship team that went 13-0.

Defensively, Telfer had 41.5 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, one sack, one interception and one fumble recovery. He also made plays on offense, grabbing 22 catches for 370 yards and five touchdowns.

As a junior, Telfer had 26.5 tackles, three tackles for loss and four interceptions, two of which he returned for TDs. He also hauled in 12 catches for 153 yards and five scores on offense.

He played mostly defense as a sophomore, collecting 25.5 tackles, three tackles for loss, one interception and one fumble recovery.

Bonnett said Northwest Missouri State redshirts most of its players, and he expects them to redshirt Telfer.

“He’s going to be fed right into another football program that has a family type atmosphere,” Bonnett said.

Telfer, who said his major is still undecided, had a busy month of January as he made several college visits trying to figure out where he wanted to be.

He made his first trip to Grand View on January 11 and then went to Iowa Western Community College on January 14. His visit to Northwest Missouri State was an overnight trip from January 20-21.

His final visit to Grand View was made with PCM classmate Nick Dredge, who wound up choosing the Vikings as his college destination.

“Nick and I talked about how cool it would be to attend Grane View together if that’s where I ended up going,” Telfer said. “I just felt like Northwest is a place where I can succeed. They will push me but they just want what’s best for me in the end.”

Telfer knew Bonnet wanted him to go to his alma mater even though he never came out and said it.

“He has connections down there. He didn’t say it, but I could tell that’s where he wanted me to go,” Telfer said about Bonnett. “He had a good career there, too.”