Northwest Conference 2022

BirdDog10 said:
I don't think having one or not having one makes a program either, but I've seen way too many programs do way more harm than good
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My last point and I hope I haven't made it feel like I'm attacking, as that is definitely not what I'm trying to do. My point is that it can take the program to that next level if done properly. Our program was 1-13 I believe at semi state prior. There are very little differences from our program and Crestview's other than style. Athletes are very similar. Crestview should be in the final 8 or final 4 in D7 football on a consistent basis with the Athletes they have.
 
StateChampion2012 said:
Does Grove have youth football?
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Yes, but at a much smaller scale than we used to. At one point we had close to 80 kids playing on 2 youth teams, but those numbers weren't translating at all to high school or even jr high. A few years we ended up with barely 40 kids on the high school team out of kids that would have played on those massive youth teams. They thankfully made some much needed changes in how the teams were organized and the coaches in charge, but I still strongly debate how much playing at that level benefits the high school teams.
 
Youth football has has no effect on a high school's success or failure. Delphos has had youth football since the 1950's and DSJ started football in 1955. Delphos had youth football when DSJ went 4-36 in four years and Delphos had youth football when DSJ won 57 games in a row. St. Marys and Wapak both have youth football and their fortunes depend on their high school football coach. I'd guess most WBL towns have youth football and they all have their good years and bad years. Youth football has no direct effect on high school varsity programs.
 
A bad youth progam can most definitively can have a big negative impact on HS football team (as with any sport). A good one can help a HS football team out a little.
 
Basement Bias said:
The key point you made was "bad technique taught by a bunch of dads who all think they know better than the varsity coach". This is why the NWC has struggled as well as others. I've been a part of 5th & 6th grade as well as 3rd & 4th youth football. The first group we had with the HC selecting non dads to run the program were Seniors last year who lead the team to the state championship game. Unfortunately they blew a lead and lost by 6pts. The 3rd & 4th we dropped bc we felt it was too young. However 5th & 6th is not. This 5th & 6th had many stipulations as well and was very controlled in game play bc of fundamentals. If we would have waited until 7th & 8th grade, we would not have done any better than semi state as that has been proven numerous times. We have a good shot in the next 2 years to get back in the finals again. Hopefully both years.
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The fact that you think that your involment had a major impact on that group playing for a state title is comical.
 
BirdDog10 said:
The MAC has 39 football championships, the NWC has 1, yet NWC people all over the NWC somehow think that continuing youth football (and driving away countless kids from the sport in the process) is going to help us level the playing field with the MAC....

Just saying, if someone has that astronomical amount of success in a sport, I might think to try and copy what they do a little bit. Ask anyone from there, one of the biggest contributors to their numbers in high school is the fact that they do not drive kids away by letting them play tackle football until their bodies are mature enough to handle it, and they have coaches in place that they can trust to teach them the technique and work ethic. Go ahead though, keep banging the same old drum that teaching undeveloped 10-12 year old's bad technique taught by a bunch of dads who all think they know better than the varsity coach is the key to competing with the MAC
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In principal I agree with your statement about youth football. However some of the nwc programs have soccer which forces you to have youth football programs. Otherwise you run the risk of losing them early. The mac schools don't have the same issue.
 
theterribletowel said:
In principal I agree with your statement about youth football. However some of the nwc programs have soccer which forces you to have youth football programs. Otherwise you run the risk of losing them early. The mac schools don't have the same issue.
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Yep, it's a 2-edged sword in NWC land. Most of the NWC schools aren't even big enough to have competitive football and boys soccer programs at the same time IMO.
 
theterribletowel said:
The fact that you think that your involment had a major impact on that group playing for a state title is comical.
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Um no, not me personally. It's amazing how the Head Coach's goal was reached so quickly by his staff on the high school team, the middle school staff, and then all of the youth staff. We all had a small hand in it. Comical you took it another way. It was definitely a team effort. How we ran our youth program per the HC, allowed the MS & HS a head start to get more complex items down. It also comes down to the kids who worked hard, were mature to enough to be team players, and smart enough to be able to streamline the process. I will say that if the old way for youth were done, they may have continued the trend of losing the semi final game. The programs that kept beating us had already implemented what we started. You either make the change or be happy with mediocrity. Our HC is using the youth league as a foundation for his program. It's been successful as the kids have won quite a bit at each level where that hasn't always been the case.
 
BirdDog10 said:
Yep, it's a 2-edged sword in NWC land. Most of the NWC schools aren't even big enough to have competitive football and boys soccer programs at the same time IMO.
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Idk how Ada is still doing it with how small they are. If Spencerville and Allen East want to continue doing that then thats up to them. I personally wouldn't if I were them. Then theres Soccer loving Bluffton
 
dhsdog06 said:
I'm not talking about basketball or baseball either the statement I'm about to make.

Crestview has had more football players play snaps in the NFL in the last 20 years than the entire MAC.

Does that make them better? Of course not.
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Even with Jeff Hartings and Jim Lachey?

I have always been a front of the jersey guy. Anyone who has followed me on here will know that. WHen I go to all these new places the first thing I look for is the team banners with the success. That is what I care about wholeheartedly. I see many places now are highlighting every player on some board whom has gone to play college or professionally, and that is fine. Someone commented 'wow, that is impressive' and I was like, 'yeah, i guess' but in reality I was much more impressed with the one state title and runners up banner they had. To be honest, many of the colleges I had never heard of. LOcally like 5 kids have signed to play college football next year on a very average team. I content that if you have some talent, and look hard enough, you can find a place that you can go play if you dont care much of the school you are going. Had a buddy whom coached college at a small place, and part of his employment was to bring in X amount of kids each season...a de facto enrollment push as they offerend no scholarships.

I am not saying coaching in JH/HS has nothing to do with a kid making it professionally, but an overwhelmingly amount of time that player who went pro had that the God given talent that allowed him to make it that far.

To me, when I see success in the postseason, in any sport, I see a great PROGRAM, with a solid line of coaches from JH on up. WHen I see programs with a lot of college and/or pro guys and little to now postseason I see a program that was fortunate to have great athletes..

I am not going to put down the NWC. Comparing them, or any league, to the success of the MAC is foolish. It really is.
 
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thavoice said:
Even with Jeff Hartings and Jim Lachey?

I have always been a front of the jersey guy. Anyone who has followed me on here will know that. WHen I go to all these new places the first thing I look for is the team banners with the success. That is what I care about wholeheartedly. I see many places now are highlighting every player on some board whom has gone to play college or professionally, and that is fine. Someone commented 'wow, that is impressive' and I was like, 'yeah, i guess' but in reality I was much more impressed with the one state title and runners up banner they had. To be honest, many of the colleges I had never heard of. LOcally like 5 kids have signed to play college football next year on a very average team. I content that if you have some talent, and look hard enough, you can find a place that you can go play if you dont care much of the school you are going. Had a buddy whom coached college at a small place, and part of his employment was to bring in X amount of kids each season...a de facto enrollment push as they offerend no scholarships.

I am not saying coaching in JH/HS has nothing to do with a kid making it professionally, but an overwhelmingly amount of time that player who went pro had that the God given talent that allowed him to make it that far.

To me, when I see success in the postseason, in any sport, I see a great PROGRAM, with a solid line of coaches from JH on up. WHen I see programs with a lot of college and/or pro guys I see a program that was fortunate to have great athletes..

I am not going to put down the NWC. Comparing them, or any league, to the success of the MAC is foolish. It really is.
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Amen!
 
If I'm not mistaken, Crestview only has three D VII opponents this year. We should finish top 4 in region 26, and end up with one of the deepest playoff runs in the NWC. While it was a loss, Crestview was two yards short of beating LCC in the playoffs last year and making a very deep run. If Lautzenheiser gets them over the proverbial hill in these close games, there is no telling how far they could go. There were a few losses to the 21-22 senior class, but most of the talent is back.

As for overall standings:

1. Crestview - Key game will be at Jefferson
2. Leipsic - Key game will be the final game of the season vs Crestview
3. Grove - Key games - Home vs Leipsic and at Spencerville
4. Allen East - Key game home vs Grove
5. Jefferson - Key game home vs Crestview
6. Spencerville - need big upsets
7. Bluffton - need big upsets
8. Ada - just don't see it happening
 
thavoice said:
Even with Jeff Hartings and Jim Lachey?

I have always been a front of the jersey guy. Anyone who has followed me on here will know that. WHen I go to all these new places the first thing I look for is the team banners with the success. That is what I care about wholeheartedly. I see many places now are highlighting every player on some board whom has gone to play college or professionally, and that is fine. Someone commented 'wow, that is impressive' and I was like, 'yeah, i guess' but in reality I was much more impressed with the one state title and runners up banner they had. To be honest, many of the colleges I had never heard of. LOcally like 5 kids have signed to play college football next year on a very average team. I content that if you have some talent, and look hard enough, you can find a place that you can go play if you dont care much of the school you are going. Had a buddy whom coached college at a small place, and part of his employment was to bring in X amount of kids each season...a de facto enrollment push as they offerend no scholarships.

I am not saying coaching in JH/HS has nothing to do with a kid making it professionally, but an overwhelmingly amount of time that player who went pro had that the God given talent that allowed him to make it that far.

To me, when I see success in the postseason, in any sport, I see a great PROGRAM, with a solid line of coaches from JH on up. WHen I see programs with a lot of college and/or pro guys and little to now postseason I see a program that was fortunate to have great athletes..

I am not going to put down the NWC. Comparing them, or any league, to the success of the MAC is foolish. It really is.
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Im fairly confident Jim Lachey didn't play in the NFL in the past 20 years, but I could be wrong. Just an observation to your reply.

As for banners, I would say that if you drive through MAC country, you will see Harting, Lachey, Hoying, Homan, Wally Post, etc. hanging EVERYWHERE. Let's be real. Walk into the local bar, the signs outside the football and baseball stadiums, etc. and you will see individualism at its finest. There is nothing wrong with celebrating that. But, it's very very forward in MAC towns.

Agree that you cannot compare the NWC to the gold standard.
 
cknights said:
If I'm not mistaken, Crestview only has three D VII opponents this year. We should finish top 4 in region 26, and end up with one of the deepest playoff runs in the NWC. While it was a loss, Crestview was two yards short of beating LCC in the playoffs last year and making a very deep run. If Lautzenheiser gets them over the proverbial hill in these close games, there is no telling how far they could go. There were a few losses to the 21-22 senior class, but most of the talent is back.

As for overall standings:

1. Crestview - Key game will be at Jefferson
2. Leipsic - Key game will be the final game of the season vs Crestview
3. Grove - Key games - Home vs Leipsic and at Spencerville
4. Allen East - Key game home vs Grove
5. Jefferson - Key game home vs Crestview
6. Spencerville - need big upsets
7. Bluffton - need big upsets
8. Ada - just don't see it happening
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I just don't see Crestview as being that much improved over last year. Grove has most of their defense back from the team that absolutely waxed Crestview 38-0.

Crestview should be better but they lose some playmakers from last year's team. I also wonder how much having an Etzler at the helm of the basketball program will take athletes away from the football program much like the elder Etzler did in the 70's and 80's. We shall see..
 
Dr. Frasier Crane said:
I just don't see Crestview as being that much improved over last year. Grove has most of their defense back from the team that absolutely waxed Crestview 38-0.

Crestview should be better but they lose some playmakers from last year's team. I also wonder how much having an Etzler at the helm of the basketball program will take athletes away from the football program much like the elder Etzler did in the 70's and 80's. We shall see..
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Grove should be a tough out for anyone. I'm not sure what they return on offense, but probably the favorite on paper for many sports writers. I know the loss of Verhoff is something that Grove fans may underestimate. He changed the game and changed the field everytime he put a foot on the ball.

To my knowledge, Crestview has possibly its biggest roster size in recent history. I don't think there has been any ill will towards football from the basketball program.
 
cknights said:
Grove should be a tough out for anyone. I'm not sure what they return on offense, but probably the favorite on paper for many sports writers. I know the loss of Verhoff is something that Grove fans may underestimate. He changed the game and changed the field everytime he put a foot on the ball.

To my knowledge, Crestview has possibly its biggest roster size in recent history. I don't think there has been any ill will towards football from the basketball program.
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As I said, the ingredients are there for Crestview, they just need to be put together properly. No reason they can't be in the final 8 or 4 of D7 on a consistent basis. There needs to be a bit more uniformity from top to bottom and I believe they will get there.
 
cknights said:
If I'm not mistaken, Crestview only has three D VII opponents this year. We should finish top 4 in region 26, and end up with one of the deepest playoff runs in the NWC. While it was a loss, Crestview was two yards short of beating LCC in the playoffs last year and making a very deep run. If Lautzenheiser gets them over the proverbial hill in these close games, there is no telling how far they could go. There were a few losses to the 21-22 senior class, but most of the talent is back.

As for overall standings:

1. Crestview - Key game will be at Jefferson
2. Leipsic - Key game will be the final game of the season vs Crestview
3. Grove - Key games - Home vs Leipsic and at Spencerville
4. Allen East - Key game home vs Grove
5. Jefferson - Key game home vs Crestview
6. Spencerville - need big upsets
7. Bluffton - need big upsets
8. Ada - just don't see it happening
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Crestview lost to Grove 38-0, Leispic 35-21, and Allen East 42-14 last year and now all of a sudden they have “all of this talent” to win the NWC? I don’t see it. ???
 
thavoice said:
Even with Jeff Hartings and Jim Lachey?

I have always been a front of the jersey guy. Anyone who has followed me on here will know that. WHen I go to all these new places the first thing I look for is the team banners with the success. That is what I care about wholeheartedly. I see many places now are highlighting every player on some board whom has gone to play college or professionally, and that is fine. Someone commented 'wow, that is impressive' and I was like, 'yeah, i guess' but in reality I was much more impressed with the one state title and runners up banner they had. To be honest, many of the colleges I had never heard of. LOcally like 5 kids have signed to play college football next year on a very average team. I content that if you have some talent, and look hard enough, you can find a place that you can go play if you dont care much of the school you are going. Had a buddy whom coached college at a small place, and part of his employment was to bring in X amount of kids each season...a de facto enrollment push as they offerend no scholarships.

I am not saying coaching in JH/HS has nothing to do with a kid making it professionally, but an overwhelmingly amount of time that player who went pro had that the God given talent that allowed him to make it that far.

To me, when I see success in the postseason, in any sport, I see a great PROGRAM, with a solid line of coaches from JH on up. WHen I see programs with a lot of college and/or pro guys and little to now postseason I see a program that was fortunate to have great athletes..

I am not going to put down the NWC. Comparing them, or any league, to the success of the MAC is foolish. It really is.
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Good call with Hartings. He was in the Super Bowl in 05, so definitely in the last 20. So that's 1 and 1 lol.

The rest is spot on.

When it comes to individuals vs team and celebrating them, I can't help but think Defiance baseball. We definitely celebrate the individuals, and with multiple major leaguers, countless minor leaguers, a bunch of guys going D1 college....we should. We also make a point of talking about the 90 club for pitchers who hit 90, and that's also a plus. We've gotten transfers in that otherwise may have gone somewhere else, simply because they're pitchers and want to work with Held.

But at the end of the day, the expectations are the same. Anything short of 60 wins across the program, a WBL title, and getting to at least regional is a disappointment. Team first, and if the team is successful the individuals will be too.
 
hermonboone22 said:
Crestview lost to Grove 38-0, Leispic 35-21, and Allen East 42-14 last year and now all of a sudden they have “all of this talent” to win the NWC? I don’t see it. ???
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I don't believe I said "all this talent". I'm not sure where that quote came from. However, much of the talent and playmakers that were freshmen and sophomores last year now have another year in the weight room and another year with a new staff under their belt. As I stated, Grove is the front runner on paper.

I do think the NWC is wide open. I also think that with Crestview's schedule, they are set up very well with some quality wins versus higher divisional opponents, giving them a shot at as deep of a playoff run as any team in the NWC.
 
cknights said:
I don't believe I said "all this talent". I'm not sure where that quote came from. However, much of the talent and playmakers that were freshmen and sophomores last year now have another year in the weight room and another year with a new staff under their belt. As I stated, Grove is the front runner on paper.

I do think the NWC is wide open. I also think that with Crestview's schedule, they are set up very well with some quality wins versus higher divisional opponents, giving them a shot at as deep of a playoff run as any team in the NWC.
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Are the Crestview players actually wearing their team colors this summer during workouts?
 
cknights said:
As I stated, Grove is the front runner on paper.
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This is all I saw…

As for overall standings:

1. Crestview - Key game will be at Jefferson
2. Leipsic - Key game will be the final game of the season vs Crestview
3. Grove - Key games - Home vs Leipsic and at Spencerville
4. Allen East - Key game home vs Grove
5. Jefferson - Key game home vs Crestview
6. Spencerville - need big upsets
7. Bluffton - need big upsets
8. Ada - just don't see it happening
Click to expand...
 
cknights said:
Grove should be a tough out for anyone. I'm not sure what they return on offense, but probably the favorite on paper for many sports writers. I know the loss of Verhoff is something that Grove fans may underestimate. He changed the game and changed the field everytime he put a foot on the ball.

To my knowledge, Crestview has possibly its biggest roster size in recent history. I don't think there has been any ill will towards football from the basketball program.
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I think with Grove what their biggest strength going to be is their front 7 on defense is going to be tough to do anything against. They may have the best group of Linebackers in D6. Schafer, Koch, and Schroeder are a great group. Big, physical, and athletic. Offensively for Grove, their Oline will be strong(Scafer is like having another guard in at the H-back) , RB will be probably 1-3 different guys, but I think the main guys to watch at the skill positions is Barazza, Reynolds, and Maag. I think Maag could be a havoc at TE, and could lineup out wide to use his size and speed. Renner will be steady at QB.
 
Testing said:
Not sure how Grove scores but I don't see them getting scored on either. Gonna be some single digit games in Grove
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See the post above yours ☝️☝️ Trent Barraza and Zach Reynolds from Grove will be known as 2 of the best offensive threats in the NWC by the end of this season. Barraza will be a sophomore and Reynolds will be a junior. Both would have had big years last year already if they didn't have veteran seniors above them
 
serpico said:
This is all I saw…
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Grove should be a tough out for anyone. I'm not sure what they return on offense, but probably the favorite on paper for many sports writers. I know the loss of Verhoff is something that Grove fans may underestimate. He changed the game and changed the field everytime he put a foot on the ball.
Click to expand...
 
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