Northwest Raiders
2021 Record: 5-5
District: 4-3A
Head Coach: Chris Edwards
Note: Moving from a spread offense to the Wing T
Northwest was developing a tradition of deep playoff runs. But it's been 2 years since the Raiders made the postseason, and 4 years since their last quarterfinals appearance.
This inspired head coach Chris Edwards to 'reinvent' the Raiders, starting with changing from a spread offense to the Wing T.
"When I first took over at Northwest, we were a spread team. But, we were more of a power run team out of the spread," Edwards explains. "We had A lot of quarterback runs with Chris Lee and Montaze Sam, and we was physical. Well, what happened was we started throwing the ball and we didn't get physical. So we had to get more physical, get stronger in the weight room. We had to take practice more serious."
"I really love it, being able to just block anybody and just going forward," Northwest offensive guard Haywood Gallien adds. "It benefits us a lot because everybody already knows what they're doing. We don't have to teach anybody a lot from the beginning. It's more just sharpening your skills more than anything else."
To help with the transition to Wing T, Northwest hired Curt Ware as their offensive coordinator. He spent the last 3 years as the head coach at New Iberia.
Overall, the Raiders have 11 starters returning, including all 5 offensive lineman. Northwest hopes their beef up front will help plow their way back to the postseason.
"Two years in a row, finishing 33rd, not getting in. The goal is definitely to get in," Edwards said. "Once you get into playoffs, man, it's a second season. Fans tend to support you a little bit more because a lot of other schools are eliminated. So you kind of get that playoff aura around the school. Definitely if we get in, we think we can make some noise."
"It's very important, you know. You obviously want to win," Northwest senior right tackle Wesley Moore said. "Like when you've done something before, and like the last couple of years you've missed out, you want to try and get back to that place, you know. We want to go out on a high note. So you know, we want to go out doing something well."
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