McDERMOTT — With the start of their 2023 fall campaign underway, the Northwest Mohawks are aiming to continue their level of success — with a slight variation from the last several years.

In each of the last three years, the Northwest football program has qualified for the postseason, and in two of those years, has won an Ohio High School Athletic Association state playoff game.

“We’re about 43 right now, have a full JV schedule,” fifth-year head coach Bill Crabtree said. “We’re young, but we have a lot of good young skill players. It’s pretty exciting to see how they’re responding to what we’re doing. Kids came out and competed all summer, have had some pretty good scrimmages against River Valley and Portsmouth. It’s exciting and the kids are fired up, getting better every day.”

Returning varsity players looking to make an impact for the Mohawks include senior Reece Lute, junior Andrew Newman, sophomore Jake Brown who will get the nod at quarterback — as well as significant contributors on both sides of the ball in junior Carter Runyon and senior Connor Lintz.

“Ethan Ferguson didn’t play a lot of varsity last year for us, but he’s going to be another weapon for us for sure. Reece Lutz, a four-year guy who’s making plays. Andrew Newman is stepping up as a slot receiver, working hard to get better. Jake Brown’s our quarterback at this point, trying to take over in that leadership role under center for us. Carter (Runyon) and Connor (Lintz) are animals out there on both sides of the ball, on the defensive side especially. Our line’s young as far as experience, but it might be one of the best lines I’ve ever had. We’re huge across the front, definitely the biggest line I’ve coached. It’s coming together, pretty exciting.”

Northwest rejoins the Southern Ohio Conference Division II this fall — after playing as a member of the SOC I for football only since 2014.

In non-league play, the Mohawks will travel to Southeastern for their week-one opener, before hosting McClain and Huntington in weeks two and three, respectively.

Northwest travels to Wheelersburg in week four to begin their SOC II schedule.

They’ll host Minford and Valley in weeks five and six, before traveling to Vinton County in week seven in a non-league game.

The Mohawks’ home finale comes in week eight when they’ll host West.

Then they’ll travel to Waverly and Oak Hill in weeks nine and 10 to close the regular season.

“They’re looking to prove themselves,” Crabtree said. “They’re not going to back down from anyone, we keep telling them to just believe in themselves, believe in what we’re trying to accomplish and good things will work out for us.”