Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

TIFFIN – As soon as his junior season came to a closer Clear Creek Amana quarterback Conlan Poynton started thinking about the future.

Before Poynton could entirely shift his focus forward he first had to take a look back.

In the days, weeks and months following a 34-7 loss to eventual state runner-up Pella in the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs Poynton went back and watched the film from his junior season.

As he picked apart his on-field performance over the offseason Poynton realized something that has led to the biggest improvement for the senior signal caller.

Poynton saw that in his first season leading the Clipper offense he wasn’t leading the way he needed.

“Definitely the first thing I saw that I needed to improve was being more of a vocal leader,” Poynton said. “Last year I wasn’t vocal at all, and I was new to the CCA school district, but this year I knew I needed to be more vocal. I trust my athletic ability enough but I need to be more of an on and off the field voice.”

Poynton thrived on the field last season in his first year in a Clipper uniform.

He racked up better than 2,100 total yards and 28 touchdowns, led the Clippers in rushing yards and directed Clear Creek Amana to a 6-4 record and a spot in the 4A playoffs.

As he watched last season back Poynton wanted more.

He leaned into the leadership role over the offseason and has already seen the results pour over on the field this fall.

“I definitely feel a lot further ahead this year, as a group I feel like we have a really good chemistry,” Poynton said. “Over the offseason a lot of us were putting in work, putting in a lot of sweat and I see that carrying over.”

The offseason film study has paid off for Poynton who was in his first season playing varsity quarterback last season.

Poynton led Solon in rushing with 965 yards and 14 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2023 and rushed for a team-high 901 yards last season.

A full season at quarterback followed by an offseason filled with film has resulted in a more knowledgeable more comfortable Poynton behind center this fall.

“Last year his athleticism and his talent got us out of some situations and him out of situations and I feel this year his knowledge of the game, his ability to read coverages, his ability to read a blitz, his ability to run audibles to put us in better situations has grown,” Clear Creek Amana coach Lance Pedersen said. “So now he not only has the athletic ability but he also has the knowledge that will put our team in a position to be successful.”

At the start of last season Poynton was an athlete playing the quarterback position.

By the end of the season the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Poynton was an athletic quarterback.

Poynton completed 39-of-52 passes for 508 yards and five touchdowns without an interception in wins over Cedar Rapids Xavier and Clinton to close the regular season as Clear Creek Amana locked up its first postseason berth since 2021.

“It was a little foggy at the beginning, mentally for me but I knew I had to flush that as a leader,” Poynton said. “It came down to trusting my own athletic ability and trusting the guys next to me. I know my guys are going to make plays as long as I make plays with them.”

Poynton averaged 225 total yards per game over the last seven games as Clear Creek Amana went 5-2 over that stretch.

On the season Poynton passed for 1,228 yards and 12 touchdowns with seven interceptions.

Pedersen has seen the progress of Poynton as a dual-threat quarterback grow this fall.

“That guys has spent a lot of time studying film and learning what the defense is going to do and being able to react to what they are doing and he also put a lot of time into developing his ability to pass,” Pedersen said. “We knew he was a good runner last year but know his ability to pass the ball has improved tremendously as well.”

Poynton has rounded out his all-around game but his focus remains on leading his team, which the senior believes will result in more wins this fall.

“We know that we trust our coaches but we know we need to trust each other as players,” Poynton said. “A good team is going to be a player ran team. We know we have coaches that have our backs but being a player ran team that helps us have their back as well.”

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