Columbus Grove picked to win NWC

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

There are plenty of quality football teams in the Northwest Conference this year and the departure of Ada and Leipisic and the addition of Lima Central Catholic and Fort Loramie make things even more interesting. Even with those changes, one team appears to stand out as the preseason favorite.

Columbus Grove has won or shared four of the last five NWC titles and the defending champions are the VW independent’s preseason pick to repeat in 2024. The Bulldogs, led by veteran head coach Andy Schafer, have a number of talented players back, including quarterback Landon Best and running back Trenton Barraza, along with eight starters on defense. There is some concern about the offensive line, where three of last year’s five starters graduated, including two three-year lettermen and a two-year letterman, but history indicates Columbus Grove will be just fine up front. Weeks 8-10 could be a slugfest for the Bulldogs – at Crestview, vs. Lima Central Catholic and at Bluffton in the regular season finale.

Things get a little murky after that, partly due to the two incoming teams.

Lima Central Catholic has nine returning starters on both sides of the ball, along with 17 returning letter winners, but a key graduation loss is quarterback Carson Parker, who signed to play collegiate football at Ohio Dominican. The offensive line is mostly intact and one can easily make a case that the Thunderbirds will compete for the conference title. 

With no conference affiliation last season, Fort Loramie played sort of a hodge-podge schedule and finished 6-6 overall. The schedule included three MAC teams, along with powers Norwalk St. Paul, Lucas and Lima Central Catholic. The Redskins have just four starters back on offense and five on defense and are tinkering with new schemes on both sides of the ball. Make no mistake, Spencer Wells is an outstanding head coach and his team will present some challenges in the NWC.

At Crestview, second year head coach Cole Harting has some nice returning players, including quarterback Bryson Penix, running back Braxton Leeth and receiver Wren Sheets. Zayden Martin, Ayden Martin and Liam Putman are some notable returners on defense. The big question for the Knights – can they replace all five starters along the offensive line? If so, Crestview could be a contender for the conference title. The first two conference games will be challenging – at Fort Loramie and home vs. Allen East. A full Crestview season preview will appear on the Sports page next week.

Allen East has the talent to be an upper division team and head coach Joel Billings has built a consistent Mustang program. 13 letter winners are back for Allen East.

Kyle Koenig enters his second season as head coach at Spencerville. Last year, the Bearcats had just three seniors, so a lot of returning starters are back in 2024. Despite a 2-8 regular season, Spencerville qualified for the playoffs, which meant an extra week of practice for a young squad. It doesn’t sound like much, but things like that quickly add up when rebuilding a program. I expect the Bearcats to surprise a team or two this season.

Delphos Jefferson has a new head coach in Allan Pohlman and while it didn’t show in the win/loss column (1-9), the Wildcats made strides during the season, which culminated with a 31-28 win over Spencerville in the season finale. Jefferson has a young team but does have 12 returning starters among the 32 players on the preseason roster. 

Here is the VW independent’s eighth annual preseason prediction for the NWC, based on information provided by coaches and other factors.

1 – Columbus Grove

2 – Bluffton

3 – Lima Central Catholic

4 – Crestview

5 – Allen East

6 – Fort Loramie

7 – Spencerville

8 – Delphos Jefferson